Winters Wonder
by Hawkeyesbow
Summary: Jade is a hydra experiment that has escaped. She is left with a backpack full of files and only one name, James Barnes. She is now on the run from Hydra and the Avengers trying to find anyone to help her. Until the Avengers catch up with her. Slightly before and during Age of Ultron.
1. chapter 1

The chaos that surrounded her was overwhelming. She had no idea that a calm afternoon could turn into chaos in less than three minutes. Doctors, scientists, soldiers, everyone was a mess, and the worst part was that nobody would tell her what was going on.

"Would someone please explain to me what's happening ?" She yelled.

A nicely dressed lady ran passed her screaming completely ignoring her. "Yep, cause that's helpful," She sarcastically said to herself. "Doctor!" She called out as a man passed her. His name escaped her memory, which seemed to be happening a lot lately. "Can you tell me what's going on?" To her relief he stopped.

"The Avengers are here." He said like it explained everything. "Go to the north wing and grab everything you can. I'll meet you in the landing bay in ten minutes," he ordered. As soon as he finished he began to run again.

If there was anything she knew how to do it was follow orders. She turned around and quickly ran down the hall and up the steps that led to the north wing. When she got to the door she reached for the handle expecting it to turn and open for her. Instead she ended up slamming her shoulder onto the door only to bounce off the hard surface and land on the floor.

"That's embarrassing," She mumbled to the empty hallway. She had thought the door to be unlocked, she had thought wrong. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her black pants.

"Okay," She told herself. "You've done this a million times in training," She placed her hand on the door. All her concentration was fixed on the task at hand. Taking a step she went through the door.

Phasing is what they call it, it's when the your particles in your body vibrate so rapidly than you can move through solid objects. It was part of the experimenting that they did on her, though it was painful, it wasn't an option. She was a tool, a weapon, meant for whatever they needed her to be.

The room was round and crammed full of books, papers, and files, all of which were scattered all over the floor. Light streamed through the single window illuminating the small space. She quickly found a backpack in a pile by the door, and started to randomly throw stuff in it.

Random files and papers were mostly what she put in the bag, the books there were to big and heavy to carry comfortably. After the backpack was half full she came across a file that had the name James Barnes. She paused for a moment before putting it the bag. The name sounded oddly familiar, but now was not the time to think about small amount of time she had was up. She had to get to the landing bay. She dashed through the door and down the stairs toward the landing bay.

When she got there the place was in ruins. Smoke was filling the bay and it started to burn her eyes making it harder to see and breathe. Soldiers ran to ships and land vehicles, and alarms screamed, demanding attention. She frantically looked around, but she couldn't see the Doctor.

"Doctor!" She yelled. Oh, why could she not remember his name? She had known him for all of her life. It was irritating to say the least.

An explosion of light hit one of the ships, and a tall man with blonde hair flew in. His red cape fluttered around him. She quickly dove behind a pile of ammunition, which was probably not the best idea she ever had.

"Come on you cowards! Is that the best you can do?" His question rang out. She hated being called a coward, but trying to fight this man was probably a bad idea.

She needed to get to the exit. She counted to ten before bursting out from behind her hiding place. She ran toward him, surprising the god of thunder. She ran right through him and toward the exit, not two seconds later she was hit in the back with what felt like a hammer.

She was thrown across the room only ten feet from her exit point, a nice thick wall. Through the wall was outside the facility. The red caped Avenger started to walk toward her.

"Well that was unexpected," She moaned as she slowly started to crawl to the wall. When she moved pain screamed in her back.

A blinding light hit the ship to her left. That was the only distraction she needed. She jumped up and dove for the wall. Going through a wall is harder than you'd think, it gives you a splitting headache, but that's not what you think about when your running from the most powerful super heroes in the world.

She flew through the wall as if it wasn't there, falling eight feet in the process. "Oh, that hurt." She mumbled into the moss she landed in.

Gun shots were slowly beginning to fade out, signaling the end of the battle. She had to get out of there, fast. She picked herself up and started to head in the direction she thought was north. Ignoring the pain she felt she started to run.

She had ran for about five minutes before she heard the swoosh and thunk of an arrow into the tree in front of her. "Seriously," She complained before sharply turning around.

"You weren't going to leave early were you?" A man in black pants and tank top asked her. He held a loaded bow in his hands and a quiver of arrows was strapped on his back.

"Ya, this party didn't seem to be to my liking. What about you?" She asked. Sarcasm was her way of dealing with fear and basically every other emotion she ever had. It was like a stress reliever for her, and right now her heart was beating like a drum.

"I agree this one was one of the most boring I have ever been to, but I'm beginning to think that will change very quickly," He replied with a smirk on his face. He was tall with brown hair, and was dirty and sweaty. He had a confidence that she wished she had. He took his arrow and put it back in his quiver. "Do you want to stretch or anything before we get started?" He asked.

"Ya know, you could just give me like a three hour head start and then chase after me," She said to him. Procrastination is great, but it didn't work this time.

Before she said anything else he came at her with a flying kick that barely missed her face. She jerked back and did her best to regain her balance. She then countered with a few punches only landing one on his arm after it missed his face. He tried to kick her feet out from under her, but she saw it coming and jumped backward to avoid it. She did a few backhand springs just for the fun of it. The action surprised him, giving her a chance to strike, kicking him square in the chest.

"Where did you learn this stuff?" He breathed. After regaining his footing, he swung his bow and hit her in the chest. She landed on her back. As fast as she could she flipped onto her stomach and stood up.

"That facility you just destroyed, that's got a name?" She asked. More kicks and punches were thrown, but nobody got a solid hit.

"My name's Clint, but most know me as Hawkeye. What about you?" He returned the question.

Before she answered he swung his bow toward her head. She easily ducked the attack and did a high kick toward his head, which he saw coming, and blocked with his bow.

"I don't really have a literal name that people call me by," She admitted. "They usually call me by a number." She side stepped a punch and sent another kick his way. Clint ducked and took a few steps back to look at her.

"I'm not going to call you by a number. What name do you tell your friends?" He asked.

"I don't have friends," She said before swinging her fist, that he easily side stepped.

"Sure you do, everybody does," He tells her. He faked a punch to her head and kicked her in the knee. Pain erupted in her knee. She backed away from him. "Do have a name that isn't a number?" He asked. She paused to think about it. She had gotten a lot of code names through out various missions. She had liked a few of them, but never thought about actually using one of them.

Without thinking about it she stepped forward and swung her fist at him. He grabbed her hand, kneed her in the stomach, and flipped her on her back. He gave her a goofy smile and simply stated,"I win."

She smiled at him. "Congratulations, you just beat a fifteen year old girl. Go ahead, pat yourself on the back, I won't judge," At her remark his smile widened. He reached his hand down.

She looked at it, puzzled. Clint noticed her confused expression and felt the need to explain.

"I'm offering you a hand up. The polite thing to do would be to take it," he teased back. She shook her head.

"Nah, I'm good. I need to get going," she said. "Oh, and you can call me Jade."

She gave him a sincere smile before sinking into the ground. Leaving him standing there with his hand stretched out toward the empty jungle floor.


	2. Chapter 2

The surprised look on Clint's face was well worth the bruises she would undoubtedly have.

Phasing into the ground was similar to swimming in water, except Jade could breathe. Since her body was lighter than the dirt around her, she didn't sink, but she also didn't float. So if she slowly started to stop phasing she would rise to the surface, and that's exactly what she did. About a mile away from where she had met Clint.

When she got to the surface Jade ran. She ran until she reached the edge of the thick jungle. At the edge she discovered a huge city about a mile from where she stood.

"What do I do now?" She asked herself. She had never been out of a facility without at least soldiers to accompany her, or without being on a mission.

She now had something she never did before, complete freedom. Freedom to make her own choices. She knew she didn't want to go back to Hydra, but where could she go?

"Might as well look at what I have," She said to herself. She took her backpack and put it at her feet. She then collapsed down next to it and emptied its contents onto the ground.

To her dismay it was mostly science notes and experiment results, but there was one file that caught her attention.

"Now what about you?" She said to the file resting in her hand. James Barnes. She said it in her mind over and over. The name sounded so familiar. When she finally opened the file she gasped at what she saw. This man was the winter soldier!

The winter soldier had been her next 'cell' neighbor at the facility in Siberia. Late at night she would hear him scream and always would wonder if she was next. They had met a few times, but he was always the winter soldier, never James Barnes.

Mind. Blown. She quickly scanned the rest of the file, but didn't find anything that told her where he was. In fact the little information the file did have was at least two years old and not very helpful.

Jade looked over to the city that rose before her. She took a deep breath and smiled to herself. She was already enjoying her freedom and it had only been a few hours since her escape. She loved how beautiful the city looked as the sun set behind it. From where she sat the view was excellent.

She sighed and looked up at the trees around her. It had been a long day. After considering her options she decided to go back deeper into the jungle and find a tree to sleep in. She was used to sleeping in uncomfortable places so a tree shouldn't be to hard to sleep in.

She stood, picked up the files by her feet, and neatly put them back in her bag. She took one last look at the view before turning and walking back into the jungle.

After walking for a few minutes she found the perfect tree. Reaching up she grabbed onto a low branch and started to climb. She found a wide branch and hung her backpack on a smaller branch that hung over her head. She leaned up against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. That was the last thing she remembered doing before falling asleep.

She woke up with the air being smacked out of her, and it took her a second to realize what had happened.

She had fallen from the tree!

She must've forgot to strap herself in the night before. When she had fallen the wind had been knocked out of her. It was like her lungs had forgotten how to work. She gasped for air, and raised her arms above her head.

The doctors in the facility told her if she ever lost her breath she should raise her arms above her head. It helped because it took pressure off your chest.

When she could breathe normally again she sat up. After she did, she noticed her pants had been torn in the fall, but that seemed to be the only thing that was damaged. She was lucky she hadn't broken any bones.

The sound of a snap nearby made her bolt to her feet. She had been distracted and unaware of her surroundings. She silently reprimanded herself for it.

"Hello?" she warily called out. Jade waited for a response, but was slightly relieved when she didn't get one.

She couldn't stay there forever she realized. She needed a plan. Her brain went through all her options, which at the moment were very few.

The winter soldier, maybe he remembered her too. He might know more than she did. Hydra apparently thought he was dead or they lost him. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.

The problem would be finding him. The very few memories she had been able to conjure up about him were fuzzy and not helpful at all. Whatever Hydra had done to her memory would take a while to fix, if it could be fixed at all.

She could go back to the Hydra facility to see what she could find out, or go to the city and try to find something there.

The facility would be her best bet. The Avengers would have either driven everyone out or arrested them, and she doubted they would stick around after they went through everything. Hydra probably deleted anything useful anyway, so looking through the remaining files wouldn't take long.

She looked back up at the tree she had fallen out of. She sighed and climbed back up to grab her backpack. After she had successful retrieved it, she set out toward the facility.

When she finally got their she did her best to be quiet, not wanting to alert anyone if they happened to be inside. She walked up to the door and carefully opened it. Doing her best to not set off any of the traps that may still be active.

When she stepped inside she gasped in horror. Bodies of fallen soldiers lined the hall. Blood was splattered on the wall and was pooled on the floor. These people had been left there to rot.

Looking around she asked herself, was this any different than what Hydra asked her to do? They told her it was for a good cause, that she was helping a greater good. But the scene in front of her made her sick. Was there really ever an end to the death that they caused.

These were real people with family and friends. They had given their life for something they believed in. If this was the greater good, she wanted no part in it.

Jade had known most of these people. They were never loving toward her. Heck, some of them didn't even like her, but they were the closest thing to family she could even remember.

Her stomach twisted at the sight, and she wanted to throw up, but she couldn't think about that now. She had things to do.

She stepped through the door and went up the stairs without looking back. She decided she would go out the back door next time, hoping it would be better than the front.

She crawled and jumped around rubble toward the computer room. She did her best to avoid stepping in the blood on the way.

The back door might be better, but computer room wasn't. The room was in shambles. Most of the computers had been either taken or destroyed, cabinets had been overturned, and bloody papers were strung across the floor.

Jade huffed, she needed a computer to find what she was looking for. That left her with two options, try to fix a computer, or try to find some hand written files concerning the mysterious James Barnes. The latter being extremely unlikely to even exist.

A crash from another room jerked her from her thoughts and caused her to jump.

The crash had come from the Doctors' room. Jade, in her curiosity, started to creep toward the room. Ready to use her powers if need be. She pressed her back to the outside of the door and listened.

"Hey Jarvis, run another word search for Loki's staff through the system again." A voice came from the room. From that sentence Jade realized there was at least two of them.

"Yes Mr. Stark," An almost human voice replied.

Stark! As in Tony Stark, the great Iron Man, Stark? He was snooping through files. For Loki's staff no less, that was not good. If he found what he was looking for he would undoubtedly find the file attached to it. The one on human experimentation, Project Winters.

If he found the file he was looking for he would know everything about her, but that would have be one of the first files they deleted. They wouldn't let that kind of information slip into unwanted hands.

Without thinking about it Jade leaned heavier on the door behind her. It flung open making Jade loose her balance and fall onto the floor.

A surprised Tony flew from his chair that he had been sitting in.

"Hi," Jade shyly said, giving him a slight wave. In return he gave her a puzzled look.

"Hi," Tony cautiously replied. Jade quickly flipped onto her stomach and stood up. The two were only about fifteen feet from each other.

"You must be Jade," He said. "Clint told me about you. You know it's not natural to go through stuff right?" His question was light. It made Jade want to smile, but she wasn't going to let her guard down that easy. What she did find odd was that's he didn't seem afraid, or even disturbed by her presence. "Do you know anything about Loki's staff? I can't seem to find anything on it."

"Yes, but I probably know a lot of stuff you don't know," She replied still off set by his cool attitude.

"I bet your here for a reason. If I were you, and I had escaped, I wouldn't come back without an extremely good one. Do you need a computer for whatever your reason might me?" He asked her. Jade dipped her head to the side, trying to figure out if there was any sarcasm in his voice.

"I do have good reason to come back, and yes, I do need a computer," she paused "How about I make you a deal? I'll tell you what you need to know, if you let me use the computer." Jade was doing her best to make polite conversation, but her social skills were very limited and she wasn't used to anything of the sort. Most of the time people would order her about, and only ever asked her questions about a mission.

"I don't make deals with the bad guys," Tony replied

"Oh, okay. Have fun looking for deleted files," Jade paused, then quickly added "Have a nice day." She abruptly turned around and started to walk out the door.

"Wait!" Jade smiled and turned around.

"Yes?" She gave him the most innocent look she could muster.

"I'll take the deal," He said.

"Excellent. What do you need to know?" Jade asked taking a few steps toward him.

"Do you know where the staff was taken? Or what Project Winters is? I occasionally see the project name pop up here and there when looking for notes on the staff."

She hesitated, if Hydra found out about her telling him about this project or the staff she could end up number one on their hit list. But a deal is a deal, and she needed that computer.

"Last I heard Loki's staff was being transported to a more secure location, Sokovia, I believe. Hydra thought it would be best to move it to a less obvious location, and they had some new test subjects to do experiments on, but that information is well over a year old," Jade said. She rocked side to side, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet.

While she had talked Tony scribbled down information on a piece of paper in front of him.

"Can I have the computer now? Please?" She shyly pleaded.

"What about Project Winters?" He asked looking up from his paper.

"That's simple. I'm Project Winters."


	3. Chapter 3

Tony didn't look surprised, in fact, he didn't even raise his eyebrows. Jade opened her mouth to continue when a small crash came from the adjoining room.

She looked over just in time to see a man wearing a deep purple shirt and tan pants walk in. Without looking at her he started to talk.

"Hey, I know your kind of obsessed with finding Loki's staff and this whole Project Winters thing, but could you take a break from that, and look at these files? They're heavily encrypted, but I think that- wha why are you doing that?" He asked addressing Tony's ridiculous head nodding. He was, of course, nodding his head toward Jade.

Jade gave a small smile and waved at him when he turned his head to look in her direction.

"You didn't tell me we had a guest," He solemnly states to Tony. Jade noticed he refused to look away from her.

"You and me both, buddy," She says to him then glances quickly at Tony.

"Dr. Banner, this is Jade. The girl Clint told us about. She has decided to be helpful and tell us about Project Winters."

"That's right. You also told me that I could use the computer, so hand it over." She motioned to the table.

"You haven't completed your side of the deal," Tony reminds her. Dr. Banner, who seemed to have relaxed, leaned against the nearest table. Jade started to chew on her bottom lip. The arrival of Banner made her on edge. She began to realize how bad of position she was in.

"I don't want to say any more than I already have. Just give me the computer," She pleaded with him. Tony seemed to be caught off guard at her sudden change in tone, and Banner raised his eyebrows at her.

Jade's mind was screaming at her to run. she definitely didn't have the upper hand here. She quickly glanced around looking for a weapon, but her eyes found something even more unnerving. The Iron Man suit sitting in the corner. She took a deep breath and looked back over at Dr. Banner. They made eye contact and she silently pleaded with him to help her. In response he looked down at the floor. She was on her own. She shifted her footing into a more defensive position.

"I don't think so," Tony replied, "we have a deal.''

Jade saw that this wasn't going anywhere fast. She wanted more than anything to run, but she didn't like her odds of escaping without a confrontation. A confrontation she would mostly likely loose.

"Jade," Dr. Banner intervened. "It is Jade right?" After she nodded her head he continued. "We don't want any trouble. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine. Why don't you just show us what you can do?" Banner was trying desperately to keep the peace. He had noticed her change in position and knew if she ran Tony would likely chase after her. The last thing they needed was to frighten the girl.

"I'm sorry, but wasn't part of the deal, and doing it gives me a really bad headache," She took a few steps back and waited for a reply.

"No..." Tony started but before he had a chance to say anything else Jade had made up her mind. She bolted from the room. She heard Tony yelling, but didn't stop. She didn't even make it out of the computer room before a blast came through the wall. The energy from the blast blew her off her feet, and made her hit the ground, hard. She crawled behind a desk, and brought a hand up to her head. She immediately felt blood. She inwardly groaned. The ringing in her ears was minimal otherwise she would've missed what Tony Stark said to her.

"We're not going to hurt you, just come out." The voice was filtered and she knew he had the suit on.

"A little late for that," She grumbled to herself. She saw a gun a few meters from her feet and reached to grab it. The gun wasn't going to work against him, and she knew it, but it could come in handy later.

She was only a few feet from the door, if she moved fast enough she might be able to make it. Still holding the gun she crawled to the edge of her hiding place. In one swift motion she was on her feet and out the door. The way still fresh in her mind she headed for the front door. A blast at her feet made her duck into the nearest hallway. ''Can't you leave me alone!" She yelled.

"Sorry, not in the job description." He shot another beam at her. She jumped out of the way, but she was having a really hard time keeping her powers under control. If she lost focus she was very likely to go through the floor and fall into to basement. She continued to run down the hall.

"Almost there, almost there." She chanted to herself. She abruptly turned a corner and went through the nearest concrete wall.

When she made it to the other side she pressed her back up against the wall. She hoped Tony would think that she had went through one of the doors. She ignored the pounding in her head and leaned through the wall so only her head could be seen. She had yet to figure out whether the pain in her head was from her injury or using her powers. She found the hall empty it seemed she had lost him. She stepped through the wall and ran back the way she had come. On the way back to the computer room she put the gun in her backpack and made sure to zip it closed.

When she walked in she looked around but didn't see Bruce. Assuming he had left. She got to work. She went to the nearest working Hydra computer and typed in the password. She did a word search for winter soldier.

"Come on, come on," She pleaded to the load screen on the computer. She looked back at the door, but nobody had shown up yet. When it finally did load there were only one file that hadn't been deleted. Jade was just glad there was at least one. She clicked open the single file and read quickly. She knew by this time Tony would've figured out what had happened and was in his way back, and who knows where Banner had gone.

June 7, 1976

The Winter Soldier, James Barnes, went under after a complete memory wipe. Doctors suggest to make wipes more frequent to avoid any complications. Mission was successful.

She skipped to the last update on the file.

April 14, 2012

The Winter Soldier, James Barnes, is believed dead in helicarrier crash outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in Washington D.C.. No body was ever retrieved. Mission Failed.

'Perfect.' She thought sarcastically. 'Even Hydra thinks he's dead.' Maybe she could check out an article about this helicarrier crash, but not here. She'll go to the city she saw last night to see what she could find.

Good, she at least had something to go on, and she also had a plan. She deleted the file Mr. Barnes and bolted out the door. She left the room without ever noticing Bruce hiding in a nearby closet.

She slipped out the back door without any problems, and ran for the city.

Avengers Tower

"I saw her, she was there." Was the first thing Tony said when he came back from the facility in Brazil. Most the facilities were in Europe but they would occasionally find one on another continent. "She was right there and I let her slip through my fingers." Tony concluded his story after telling the rest of the team.

"She came back after Tony chased her too. Whatever was on that computer was extremely important to her," Bruce said after Tony had whole team was in the living room. Nat and Clint were sitting on the couch kicking their feet up on a stool, very entertained by the fact that a fifteen year old girl had outsmarted the great Tony Stark. Bruce and Thor were in the kitchen leaning on the counter, and drinking orange juice, while Steve was standing behind the couch listening intently to Tony's' story.

"What could be so important that she would risk a battle with the Hulk?" Clint asks to no one in particular

"Hope," Steve stated quite simply. The rest of the team look at him, waiting for him to continue the thought. "Think about it. She probably has never been unsupervised in her life, she's in a strange place with no one left she knows, Iron Man is in the facility with the Hulk, and she has these weird powers she probably doesn't have complete control over. If I were her, the only thing that would bring me back to the place I just escaped from, especially under those circumstances, would be hope that something or someone would be there. What ever was on that file she deleted was probably one of the main reasons she came back." The team looked around and Nat spoke up.

"What do you propose we do?" She asks Steve.

"I'm not going to sit around and wait for her to show up at our front door. We need to find her, before she does something to hurt herself or the people around her." Clint intervened.

"I say we look for her," Tony put in. Steve nodded his head in agreement.

''Stark, do you know what kind of file she deleted? And if you don't you and Banner try find out. The rest of us will go to cities and towns around the area to search for her. Does that work for everyone?" He waited for any negative response. When he didn't get one he picked up his shield.

"Then lets' head out."


	4. Chapter 4

The sun beat down on Jades' back as she walked. She was about half way to the city. Normally she could run a mile in a reasonable amount of time, but not in a jungle, with bleeding wounds, and multiple bruises.

After her second escape from the facility she had started to walk to the city. She had only been walking for fifteen minutes before she didn't look where she was going and ended up falling into a small hole, twisting her ankle in the process. She had the city in sight before giving into her ankles' complaints and rested.

She sighed and sat on a large rock. She pealed back her pants that Hydra had given her. With barley a glance she knew it was swollen, and she doubted she would find ice in the jungle. Her outfit was torn, sweaty, and plain dirty from her battles with the Avengers and that stupid tree.

"I can't walk into the city like this," She said looking down at herself. She would probably draw enough attention as it was. She needed to find some different clothes or maybe even a jacket, but that would be hard to come by. She didn't have money, the only thing she had was her backpack. She was beginning to see the major flaws in her plan.

-o-X-o-

The Avengers had just safely landed at their destination. It had been a long, silent trip. Nat had stared at Steve almost the whole time, but hadn't said anything. Which made Steve a little nervous. When all the others went to get their equipment she got up to talk to him.

"You know we're basically hunting a fifteen year old girl, right?" She looked at him waiting for an answer.

"It's only hunting if you intend to kill." He replied.

"Are you saying that were not allowed to shoot if she attacks?" Steve looked at her and smirked.

"I've seen you dodge bullets before, and I think you can do it again. I've also seen your hand to hand combat I think your good there too." Nat glanced over to Clint, who walked in and had looked at Cap and Nat. He smiles then sits down. Thor comes in next and sits next to Clint. They were both in regular clothes so as not to attract any unwanted attention.

"Avengers," Steve takes no time to get to the point. "if you see Miss Jade do not engage. Contact the rest of the team and we'll get to your position as soon as possible. Keep on the down low. If she sees you, she will undoubtedly run. If she does happen to attack, try not to hurt her. Does everyone understand? She has some valuable insight on Hydra that we may need in the future. She's probably scared so try not to intimidate. Now what are your positions?" Steve asked.

"I can take the east part of the city," Clint says first. He stands and straightens his shirt.

"I'll take the south part." Nat says. She steps over to stand by Clint. With Thor on the west and Steve in the north they had complete confidence in their ability to find her.

"We'll stay here," Tony sarcastically calls from the pilots seat. Bruce had been on his computer most of the trip and hadn't said anything for all of it.

Clint rolls his eyes at Stark. Tony had complained most of the trip there because he had to stay behind. Something about a rematch, if Clint remembered correctly.

"You'll be fine," Natasha said, "stop complaining."

"Okay," Steve interrupted, concerned about them loosing daylight. "Everyone move out!"

-o-X-o-

Jade had reached the outskirts of the city with a few hours of sunlight left to explore. She looked around to see houses with clothes lines in their backyards. She really didn't want to steal anything, but it looked like her only option at the moment.

She waited until she was sure no one was looking before snatching a pair of jeans and a shirt off a nearby line. The jeans fit nicely and the shirt was red and had a silver flower on it. She put her old clothes in her backpack next to her files. Her shoes were still in pretty good shape so she didn't look for any of those.

On her walk she had decided to see if she could dig up anything on Washington D.C and the hellicarrier crash. As of right then it was the only thing she had to go on. She started to head further into the city when she saw her reflection in a window.

She stopped to look. Her auburn hair had fallen out of the uniform braid it had been in the morning before. A young face with hazel eyes starred back at her, She didn't look like the murderer she was, nobody would ever guess what she had done. She shuddered to think about it, and pushed the memories aside.

She went deeper into the city. She blended in easily, and she liked it that way. People hurried here and there, on their way home or to work. Jade secretly envied them, they had the life Jade had wanted. No facilities, no training, no experiments or painful exercises, just to be normal. Right now, that was a dream at best.

'It must be great,' Jade thought to herself. Children ran on the sidewalks weaving in and out of the startled adults in their path. Jade smiled with amusement at the scene in front of her.

She looked back up. Her smile quickly dropped at the sight of two soldiers from the facility. They standing only a block away from her. She dogged into an alleyway to her right almost knocking over an trash can.

"How did they get away from the Avengers?" She questioned. Her breathing started to grow heavy.

"You're fine, you'll get away, your not going back," She promised herself. Awful memories and images flooded her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to keep them at bay, but one in particular overcame her.

 _"Winters, Are you ready? The soldier is in position. Shoot on sight, do not hesitate," A man beside her commanded. His face was fuzzy, but the voice was familiar. She was riding in the back of a large van moving quickly. It was only her and the man._

 _"The target is almost here. You'll do great," The man smiled. Her mind flashed to a rooftop, sniper rifle in hand. She heard a motorcycle coming down the street to her right. She positioned the gun._

 _"The target is coming down shoot at the cycle do not hit the man, the soldier will handle him," A voice told her through the ear piece she had on. Her shoulders tensed as the cycle rounded the corner. She took aim, took a deep breath, and shot the front wheel. It threw the two people riding to the ground._

 _"Good job. Mission complete come back for report." She stood to go and a man rode in on another cycle. He jumped off and raised his gun._

Jade gasped like she had been drowning. She put her hands on her knees and panted. She glanced around. Nobody seemed to notice her. She peeked her head around the corner to see if the men were still there. They weren't. They seemed to have disappeared.

Still shaken from the memory she straightened. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing.

'In. Out. In. Out,' She slowly said in her mind.

When her breathing was normal opened her eyes. She slowly crept out of the alley. Keeping her guard up on the off chance that they were hiding.

Getting the information she needed was going to be a lot harder than originally thought. How was she ever going to find him?

-o-X-o-

The Avengers had searched all afternoon with no luck. Clint and Thor were growing tired of the search, and made it very clear that they wanted to leave. Out of pure boredom Nat and Clint had started an argument in whether or not fish felt wet or not.

Steve sighed at the conversation he heard over the ear piece. He had been searching all day for this mysterious girl and had found nothing. He didn't even know what she looked like, other than what Clint had told him.

He looked over at the city, and all the people running around to get their required work finished for the day. A young girl only seven or eight bumped into him while running to meet her friends.

"Oh, sorry," She said, and ran to meet those waiting for her. He smiled and heard a voice over the ear piece.

"Hey, Cap, Banner here found us that Sakovian Hydra base that Jade told us about. You want to head other and crash the party?" Tony asked.

"I don't know if Steve's ready to give up this wild goose chase yet," Nat said sarcastically.

"Ya, it seems pointless. Looks like she's disappeared," Clint says

"Alright, sounds good. I haven't even seen anyone by the description you guys have given. How long will it take everyone to meet back at the ship?" Steve asked. He looked around his surroundings just in time to see a young lady with a red t-shirt duck into an ally.

The team piped in with their positions and the time it would take to meet. Steve wasn't even paying attention anymore, though. He was more focused on the girl in the alley. She looked scared and had her back pressed against the wall.

"Steve you still there?" Nat asked. It snapped Steve back to the voices in his ear.

"Ya, I'll meet you guys at the ship," He answered.

Tony said something about the fish argument, but Steve had already tuned them out. He was concentrated on the girl in the alley.

-o-X-o-

Jade had moved more to the north side of the city in hope of finding a library. No luck. She spoke fluent Portuguese and Spanish, but was to shy to ask for directions.

When she heard two men bickering, in Russian no less, she snapped her head in the direction of the voices. The soldiers! She can't get away from these guys.

She ducked into another alley. She was considering moving into one of them, considering how much time she spent in them. It couldn't be that bad, at least she wouldn't fall out of any more trees.

She pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes. She had to keep calm she didn't want a repeat of what had happened earlier.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder. She snapped her eyes open and jerked away. Reflexively she moved into a fighting position.

"Are you alright?" The man asked. He didn't attack her, but he looked surprised at her reaction. His question seemed genuine. She backed off a bit, and straightened to stand in a normal position.

"I'm fine, you just scarred me," She laughed. He studied her, it kind of made her uncomfortable. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

"No, no, you just look like someone I'm looking for," He said. He was tall and well built, his eyes were blue, and his hair was blonde.

She did her best to avoid eye contact. The people at the facility would hit her if she did. It was thought of as an act of rebellion.

She peeked around the corner to look back at the soldiers. To make sure they were still there. They were, and they were still arguing by what she could hear. After confirming where they were she looked back at the man.

"Sorry, I need to go," She said. She took two steps before the man reached for her. He didn't grab onto her, just put his arm in her path.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit on the edge," He gently asked. She turned her head back to look at him. She was now in complete view of the soldiers.

"I'm fine. I need to go. My parents will be wondering where I am," She lied.

"I could walk you home if you want," He offered. Alarms went off in her head. She was not expecting that.

The soldiers glanced her way and did a double take. Jade was caught. The men started running to her, weaving their way in and out of people.

"Um, no thanks. Hope you find who you're looking for, though. Bye," She said. Then turned on her heel and ran.

She jumped over a cart and down the street. She could hear her pursuers following close behind. She turned a corner and knocked over a trash can. They were yelling at her in Russian to stop or halt, not that the specific word mattered. She wasn't going to stop. Her heart was pounding in her ear, blocking out most of their words anyway.

She jumped onto the nearest trash can and launched herself onto a fire escape that was connected to the started to climb like a mad man. She looked down to see a man draw his gun. He shot at her and she bit back a scream.

The man she had talked to only moments before came around the corner and punched the first man, causing him to fall over unconscious. He attempted to hit the other man, but missed by less than an inch. Then they went into hand to hand combat. The man won almost instantly knocking the soldier out. He looked up to her.

"Are you okay?" He called. She bent over the railing and looked down at him.

"Ya, I'm fine. How did you do that?" She asked. She was amazed to say the least. She had never seen anyone do something like that outside of Hydra and Clint.

"It's a long story. Do you want to came down?" He asked.

"Na, I'm fine up here. Thanks for your help, though. Guess I'll see you around," She said before starting to climb up the stairs toward the roof. He called after her, but she ignored him, until he started to climb after her.

"Seriously?" She muttered to herself. She couldn't catch a break. She got to the top of the stairs and jumped onto the roof. She ran for all she was worth.

Jumping from roof to roof is not as easy as it sounds. Her ankle had started to feel a little better earlier, but now it was burning. She would have to stop soon. She heard the man behind her. He was gaining quickly.

He called for her to stop that he just wanted to talk. She wasn't stopping until she was completely safe, or until her ankle gave out. Right now the later seemed more likely.

On the next roof over there was an AC unit. When she jumped onto the roof she ran and dove behind it. She heard the man land. She heard the crunch of his boots. He was walking toward her.

"Don't run, I'm not going to hurt you," He said.

Now where had she heard that before? Not replying she took a deep breath and went down through the roof.


	5. Chapter 5

When the woman saw Jade, she screamed. Jade had just come through the ceiling and was startled to be greeted by such a high pitched noise. Her first instinct was to attack her, so that was the one she went with.

After the woman was in a heap on the floor, Jade looked around. She was in a small apartment with bright yellow walls. She put the unconscious person in the nearest room, and locked the door. Jade didn't think she would wake up for awhile, but better safe than sorry.

First thing she did was go to the bathroom and find something to wrap her ankle with. She did the job swiftly and efficiently as she could. When she was done she walked over to the window.

Jade hoped she had lost the man. She looked down to the street, but didn't see him. She didn't know who he was, or what on earth he wanted, but as a rule of thumb it's probably best to stay away from people who chase you. She made a mental note not to take off her backpack just in case she needed to make a quick get away.

While standing at the window Jade realized she was starving. She backed away from the window went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She dug around until she decided on an apple. She picked it up and took a bight out of it. Jade knew it was stealing, but between stealing or starving her stomach made the decision.

While she crunched on the apple she looked around at the pictures on the walls. The woman was married and had a young girl. The husband was probably at work, and the girl was possibly a friends house. Considering neither one of them were there at the moment.

She tore her gaze from the photos to look for a computer. She found one in the east corner of, what seemed to be, the living room. She went over and sat in the chair in front of it. She moved the mouse and the screen lit up. She was surprised to see it was unlocked. That made her job much simpler.

She typed 'Washington D.C helicarrier crash' in the search bar. One of the first things to come up was a link with all of S.H.E.I.L.D.'s files. She glanced through them, but found nothing to help her cause. Everything she found on Barns she already knew.

'If I were him what would I do?' She asked herself.

She knew Hydra constantly did mind wipes on him, so he wouldn't remember much. She tried to put herself in his position. She wouldn't go to a place that was familiar, that would be the first place Hydra would look. Where then?

Would she try to go to an uncharted place, or hide in plain sight?

One thing's for sure, she would try to get out of there.

Suddenly an idea came to her. She quickly looked up the flight records for the week of the crash. They weren't as hard to find as she thought. There were around fifty. The ones that stuck out to her the most were to Moscow, and Sokovia. Jade started to chew on the inside of her cheek.

Moscow could be it, but Sokovia was always on the news. Talk about hiding in plain sight. She didn't even know which one she'd choose. This was hopeless, she would never find him. The world was a big place. She didn't even know if he even took a flight. She was guessing at best.

She should just give up and try to live here. It didn't seem like a bad place to be. The Hydra soldiers would eventually leave. If she was lucky they would think she was dead, or that the Avengers finally got to her.

Would it be that bad, though, if the Avengers captured her? No. She wasn't going down that road. She wasn't going to end up someone's captive again. Tried it, didn't like it, not going back. If even half of what Hydra said about them was true then she would do good to avoid them. For gosh sake, Iron Man had shot lasers at her.

She sighed and slouched in her chair. At least now she could have as bad of posture as she wanted. She smiled at the thought.

If she could go back in time to the facility she would've done it the exact same way. Well, except for falling out of that tree. Once was enough for her.

"I wonder if he has given up yet?" Jade says thinking of the man. She had barley uttered the words when she heard the front door open. She shot out of the chair, causing it to fall over. Her first thought was that Hydra had found her, but quickly expelled the ridiculous idea.

"Nevaeh?" A mans' voice called out. Jade heard his heavy footsteps coming from the entry way. She heard him unlock and open the door Jade had put the lady in. Jade took the opportunity to get out of there. She bounded to the door and swung it open. She ran through, not bothering to close it behind her.

She heard the man's scream follow her down the stairs. Jade cringed. She knew the woman, whose name seemed to be Nevaeh, wasn't dead, but the scream sent a shiver down her spine anyway.

She was on the top floor and continued to head toward to first floor when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Jade!" She looked up to find the source of the voice. Gazing down at her was the man that had taken out the Hydra soldiers. "Wait, stay there!" He called running down the stairs. That sentence by itself made Jade nervous.

"Why?" She asked. For every stair he took closer to her Jade took down the staircase. Noticing her movement he stopped coming down to her.

"I just want to help," He gently said.

"Help! You want to help!" She started. Normally she didn't loose her temper, but nothing in the past few days had been normal. "Over the past two days I've been beat up by Clint, chased by Stark then by Hydra agents, and now I'm being stalked by you! Who I don't even know!" Jade stopped. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, gathering herself. Then she stated calmly. "I think we're a little past the 'I just want to help' phase." He seemed taken back by her outburst.

She had to get out of here. Get away from whoever this crazy person was.

"Listen, we're sorry," We're? The word caused her mind to reel. Was this guy part of the Avengers? The realization hit her like a truck. This was Captain America! Hydra had told her about him. She had to get out of here, now. "We didn't mean to frighten you, but-" His words were cut off by a voice calling from the bottom floor.

"Steve, where are you?" She would recognize that voice anywhere. Clint. Steve looked down and Jade took the opportunity to disappear down the nearest hallway.

She heard Steve say something, but she ignored it. She raced to the staircase at the end of the hall and started her descent. She skipped as many stairs as she possibly could without falling down them.

When she made it to the bottom she went straight for the door, but didn't make it. Clint was hiding behind the corner and when she came close enough he clothes-lined her. In an instant she was on her back with a staff pressed against her neck.

"Don't." Clint commanded. Jade was slightly confused and out of breath.

"Don't what?" She asked. He pulled her to her feet before answering.

"Don't pull the stunt you did last time." Jade noticed he sounded slightly irritated.

"Wouldn't think of it," She said. Clint kept a grip on her arm while they waited for Steve to show up. They didn't have to wait long.

"We should get back to the ship," Steve said to Clint. "Your not going to run are you?" He asked Jade. She looked between the two of them.

She knew when she was beat. She could phase to get away, but to what end? Her head still hurt from going through the roof and if she phased to many times in a row she would pass out.

"No, I'm not," She gave up.

-o-X-o-

They silently walked back to the ship. They got there without any incident. During the walk Jade couldn't help but think about what they could possibly do to her when they got there. Experimentation was high on the list of ideas.

"You found her," A red headed woman states when they enter the ship. "How'd you do it?" She questioned

"Long story," Clint answers. Nat looks at Jade, studying her. She pointed to a bench and motioned for Jade to sit. She collapsed on the bench and put her head in her hands. She half expected them to demand that she hand over her backpack, but no order came.

"She's here." Tony pointed to her. "How is she here?" Jade smiled to herself, and looked up.

"I walked up the ramp. How did you get here?" She answered. Her situation was no reason to give up her humor. Tony gives her a look then walks over to Steve.

"You and me, let's go," Tony whispered to him. "Clint, watch shadow over there." Clint nods. Thor and Natasha followed the two to the front of the ship.

"Shadow? He couldn't think of a better nickname?" Jade said to herself. Clint snorts.

"Give it time, kid. He'll think of something better." He said.

-o-X-o-

"Tell me what happened," Tony demands. Bruce looks up from his computer and takes off his headphones.

"What's going on?" He asked. Tony pointed down the ship to Jade, who was talking with Clint. "You guys found her," He muttered to himself. "How'd you do it?"

"Before you answer that," Tony interrupted, "Are we still planning on heading to Sokovia?" He asked Steve.

"I don't see how we can't, we can't risk Hydra catching wind that we know their there and move the staff," Steve answered. Tony nods and sits down in the pilots chair. In minutes they were in the air. "Okay, you may start." Steve takes a deep breath and tells them.

-o-X-o-

Jade listens in on their conversation. She was going to try to escape as soon as they turned their back on her, but when Stark mentioned Sokovia she reconsidered. She knew that was one of the places on the flight list, she could start looking there. At least this way she was getting a free ride.

"Don't even try it," Clint said observing her.

"Try what?" She innocently asked.

"Whatever it was you were thinking about," He answered. She smiled and leaned her head against the wall behind her. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked. Her smile fell. Jade pondered the question then nods.

"Why did you run?" A fair question Jade realized, but not very specific.

"When?" She straightened to look at him better. He came over and sat beside her.

"Every time," He answers. Jade smirked.

"I figure that if I run enough maybe people will start taking the hint," She answered. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"How is that working out for you?"

"Well, I'm here aren't I?" She huffs. He nods his head.

"In the jungle, were we fought, why did you run then?" He continued to ask questions. If he kept her talking maybe she would relax a little.

"I was scarred, you attacked me, so I ran. It's what I'm good at," She admitted. She looked at him waiting for a response.

"I wouldn't have hurt you," He said. Jade let out a small laugh. "What's so funny?" He asked.

"I don't believe you." He gives her a questioning look. "You haven't heard what I have," She explains.

"You believe everything Hydra told you?" Clint asked. He wanted to know what exactly he was getting himself into. Jade didn't respond. Did she believe what they taught her?

They had told her terrible things about the Avengers, but so far they had been reasonably nice to her. They had only chased her when she had ran, and she wasn't in some cell like she thought. She wasn't even sedated, it was as if they almost trusted her. At this point she was more than confused.

-o-X-o-

"Irritating isn't it? Letting her make a fool out of you," Tony said referring to the part in the story where Jade had gone through the roof. Steve looked down at the floor.

"Shut up Tony! You let the same girl escape you too. At least he brought her back, something you failed to do," Nat forcefully reminded him. Steve hid a smile behind his hand that he quickly raised to his mouth. Tony sharply turned around to face the front of the ship. Steve looked a Natasha with the silent thank you written on his face.

"So Tony, did you and Bruce find anything on the file Jade deleted?" Steve asked. Tony spun back around.

"No, why don't you ask her?" He sarcastically replied. Bruce sighed and put his headphones back on.

Their attention was then drawn to Thor. He was digging through the cabinets of the ship, looking for something to eat. He had started to toss things across the ship apparently, not finding what he wanted. He threw a package of lemon wafers, that Bruce tried to dodge, but he was a little to slow. The wafers knocked the headphones off his head. Nat let out a snicker at Bruce's surprised face.

"Stark, we seem to out of the pop-tarts!" He yells to Tony. Nat rolled her eyes at his obsession with the breakfast food.

"Ya, I know we're out of pop-tarts. You ate them all on the way to Brazil," Tony called back. Nat picked the wafers up off the floor and walked over to stand by Clint. She tossed a handful of them to Clint then handed the package to Jade. She looked at Nat confused.

"Their cookies sweetheart, you eat them," She smirked. Jade cautiously eats one. After tasting how good they were she continues to eat several more. Clint stands, walks over to the mini fridge, and opens it.

"Hey, do you want a soda?" He asks the girl sitting on the bench, backpack still on her back.

"I'll have a coke if your taking orders," Stark said while spinning like a child in the pilots chair. Jade smiled and looked at Clint.

"No thanks," She replied. Clint rolled his eyes and gave her a water bottle. He then threw Tony a coke, which he caught with ease, and grabbed a Dr. Pepper for himself. He sat down beside Jade.

"Thanks," She whispered before taking a sip. Clint smiled down at her.

"You see we're really not that bad," He says to her. Jade looks down at the floor.

"Hey Frozen-timeline," Tony said from the front, "do you want us to get ready? We're almost there."

"Everyone, suit up," Steve says, ignoring Tony's nickname for him. Clint sighs and gets up.

"Be right," Clint tell Jade. She only nods in response. After another half an hour or so of flying Tony tells them they have arrived. Clint had come back, after changing and whispering to Captain America, and sat with her the remainder of the flight. They didn't talk, though, Jade was to deep in thought to hold a decent conversation anyway.

"Bruce, stay with Jade. We'll call you if it becomes a code green," Steve says after they touch ground. The hatch opens and he steps out. Clint looks down at the girl.

"See you when we get back kid." Jade nods and watches them leave.


	6. Chapter 6

Bruce had come down to sit on the bench across from her. He had brought his computer down, but kept his headphones off so he would be able to hear the team if they called him. He hadn't said anything yet. She was seriously considering talking to herself to keep from dying of boredom. They had only been there for half an hour, but it felt much longer.

Finally she pulled her backpack off and set it on the floor. She sat cross-legged in front of it and started to pull things out. She put all her files in one stack, folded her old clothes and put them beside the files, and she put the gun on the bench to her right. Jade looked back at Bruce only to see that she had his full attention.

"What?" She playfully asked. Bruce set his computer to the side and leaned closer.

"Where did you get those?" He slowly asked pointing to the stack of files next to her.

"Oh, these?" She asked pointing to the same stack. "Around. Would you like to look at them?" She offered. He gave her a confused look. "I don't have much of a use for them. Half of them I don't even understand what it's talking about."

"Yes, I would like to see them," He politely answered. He slid off the bench and sat beside her. He picked up the top file in the stack and opened it. Jade watched him study. It was funny to say the least, he would raise then furrow his eyebrows, or he would hum to himself and madly flip through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked not looking up from the fifth file he was looking through. Jade was caught off guard at the question, and turned to look at him.

"I guess." He stopped reading and looked her in the eye.

"What file did you delete at the facility in Brazil?" Now Bruce didn't expect her to give an honest answer if she answered at all, but what she said was so crazy it had to be the truth.

"A file on James Barns." Jade didn't think admitting this to him would really matter. He would probably find out eventually, and she had all but given up on finding him. She simply didn't have the resources to conduct a world wide search for him.

"The Winter Soldier?" He asked dumbfounded. Jade nodded. "Why-" His words were cut off by a beeping sound coming from the front of the ship. He jumped up and ran to silence it.

"This is Banner," He said into the mic. Jade stood up and went to stand by him.

"Bruce, this is looking like a code Green. Get you and your purple pants out here." Jade recognized the voice as Starks.

Banner looked down at the girl beside him, then replied.

"On my way." He brushed past her and opened the ramp. "Don't leave, alright," He addressed her. She smiled at him.

"Can't promise anything," She teased. He ran down and out of sight. Moments later she heard a loud roar. She was alone.

She went back to her backpack and put her gun and clothes back in. She debated whether or not she should take the files. She decided on only taking the one on Barns. She didn't really need it, but for some reason it made her feel better. She took the remainder of the wafers and put them in her bag and searched the rest of the cabinets for anything else to eat. She was rewarded with a large bag of trail mix, which she happily put in her bag, along with few packages of crackers.

She looked outside and noticed the snow on the ground. She felt the cold air waft up to her. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. She looked around for something to cover her arms with. She went to the nearest closet and opened it. She dug through until she found a black jacket that was slightly to large. She slid it on and admired it in the mirror on the back of the door. Jade decided she liked the feel it gave off.

She turned from the mirror, threw her backpack on and walked down the ramp. She stepped onto the ground and stopped. She looked back up the ship. Was this really the best idea?

She shook her head. There were to many 'what if' s for her to be comfortable. She needed to clear her head, and she couldn't do it so close to the problem. She picked a random direction and went for it.

The echoing of gunshots made it hard for her to tell which direction the battle was. She didn't have to wait to long for an answer. A bullet zinged by her ear. She reacted by ducking and hiding behind a tree.

"Oh, not good," She said to herself. Bullets continued to pound the tree and fly by her, but nobody seemed to be advancing on her position. At least there was that silver lining. She made herself as small as possible and took her backpack off of her shoulders. She slipped her hand inside and wrapped her hand around the cool metal. She pulled the gun out of her bag and zipped it back up. Jade breathed deep and sharply turned around. She raised her gun prepared to shoot, but someone had already taken care of it.

"I had it," Jade said to Natasha after she had beaten all the soldiers to a pulp. Natasha looked at the young girl and rolled her eyes.

"Really? Cause it looked like you were hiding behind a tree while being shot at," She stepped closer to Jade. "Why are you out here anyway?" Jade shouldn't have felt like a child caught out past curfew, but she did anyway.

"I don't suppose you'd believe that I was just taking a walk?" Jade said shyly. She shifted her weight back and forth between her feet. Jade had a hard time hearing due to the noise coming from the battle so she stepped a little closer.

"No. What are doing?" Nat asked looking her over. "Is that my jacket?"

"I-" Her words were cut off by the sound of a tank. "Watch out!" She yelled jumping toward Natasha. Jade wrapped her arms around her middle just as a shot exploded from the tank. She felt the weird vibrations that told her that something had indeed gone through her. Right after the tank had fired the shot something ran right into it destroying it. It took Jade a second to realize it was the Hulk.

"That was weird," Natasha said after the Hulk was through decimating the tank. "You can let go of me now." Jade dropped her arms and looked up at her.

"Sorry," She said slightly embarrassed. She realized she had held on to long.

Natasha opened her mouth to say something, but a loud grunt drew her attention. Natasha's head snapped in the direction of the sound. She turned from Jade and ran in the direction the sound had come from. Jade was going to follow, but something knocked her off her feet and onto her back before she knew what was happening. During her fall her gun flew from her hands.

"You're not an Avenger," Someone said above her. Jade sat up and turned to look at him. He was tossing her gun from one hand to the other while circling her. Where had this guy come from?

"Thanks Captain Obvious," Jade groaned. She looked up at him and he smiled down at her.

"Why are you out here?" He asked. He had a heavy accent that Jade placed as Sakovian. Jade stood up to get better look at him. He had remarkably silver hair.

"What are you doing?" She asked. He opened his mouth to say something but a loud roar interrupted both their thoughts.

"Got to go." Jade barely heard the words before he became a blur and out of her sight. He had left and had taken her weapon with him. Jade was shocked to say the least. She had no idea there were others like her. Hydra wasn't exactly open with her about their new developments. She shook herself from her shock and ran after Natasha.

"What happened?" She yelled over the noise before kneeling next to Clint. He was hurt, that much she could tell.

He groaned and tried to roll over, but Natasha wouldn't let him.

"Stay with him. Thor's on his way to help. Don't move," Natasha said to her. She stood and started to walk away.

"Wait," Jade called after her. "Where are you going?" Jade didn't know what to do, she had never had to take care of anybody but herself.

"Just keep him alive until Thor gets here," Nat said before running off. Jade threw up her hands.

"That's not exactly my specialty!" Jade yells to her retreating back.

"Great to know," Clint breathes. Jade cringed at his voice. His breathing was unsteady and his voice was hardly there. "Why are you out here?" He asked. Question of the century.

"Looking after you, didn't you hear her?" Jade said teasing him. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Are you sure it wasn't because you were going to run?" He asked. Jade heard crashing nearby and came to the conclusion that it was Thor.

"A conversation for a later time," She said just as Thor came charging through the trees. He stalked to them and looked between her and Barton. He shrugged then leaned down and picked Barton up off the ground. Jade stood and watched him start to leave.

"You coming," He looked over his shoulder to ask her. Jade nodded.

"Give me one second. I'll meet you there." Jade took off in the direction she had come from. She went to the bullet hole filled tree, grabbed her backpack and then went to the ship. She arrived at the same time as Natasha and Bruce. Jade braced herself for what they were going to say.

"I thought I told you to stay in the ship," Bruce said to her. Nat and him walked up the ramp and Jade went in behind them.

"And I told you I couldn't make any promises," She teased. He looked back at her and she gave him a small smile. He smirked back and went to his computer to put some wireless headphones on.

Jade set her backpack underneath the bench and sat down where she had sat last time she had flown. They all quietly waited for Tony and Steve. When they arrived Tony had Loki's staff and he quickly put it down to go start up the ship. Steve immediately went to go check on Clint. Neither of them said anything more than a hello, so Jade assumed nobody had mentioned her anti-climatic escape attempt.

Jade watched as Natasha had talked to Bruce and laughed to herself as Thor tried to take his foot out of his mouth. They seemed almost normal. Jade remained silent until Natasha broke away from Bruce and came and sat down beside her.

"Here you go," Natasha said pushing something into Jade's palm. Jade looked down to discover a small pill. Her heart rate soared. They were going to drug her! Natasha must've seen Jade's expression because she quickly explained.

"It's a pain reliever. Bruce told me that when you phased it gave you a headache so I got one for you." Jade nodded and dry swallowed the pill. She wouldn't admit it, but she was almost happy that they weren't going to knock her unconscious. She hadn't even noticed the pain until Natasha had said something.

"Thanks," She said simply.

"I should be thanking you," Nat said to her. Jade looked up confused.

"For what?"

"You saving my life." Jade shook her head.

"If I hadn't been there in the first place you would've seen the tank earlier and would've never gotten so close to being hurt." Natasha gently nudged her.

"Don't cut yourself short. What you did was amazing. I don't think I would ever get used to doing that, though. Phasing, it was weird." Jade smiled and looked back down at the floor.

"It's quite possible you could get sick from it, though. I've never done it with another person so I don't know what it might do to you," Jade admitted. She had only phased with non-living things before, and she wasn't sure how it would affect Natasha. Jade yawned in her mouth trying to hide her exhaustion.

"You're tired." It wasn't a question, but Jade nodded anyway. She leaned her had against Natasha's shoulder. Jade waited for Natasha to shrug her off or tell her to get up, but she didn't. Jade didn't know what she was thinking. She shouldn't be doing this, she shouldn't act so weak, but she didn't care. She quickly fell asleep on Natasha's shoulder. She would later reason that it was exhaustion and the pain in head that made her do it.


	7. Chapter 7

_A hallway. Jade was in a cold, metal hallway. She looked to her right then to her left, but didn't see anyone. Still, it felt oddly familiar._

 _"Hello," She timidly called out. "Is anyone there?" Her answer was a high pitched scream. Fear exploded inside her._

 _"Hello!" She turned and ran toward the sound. Somehow her feet already knew where to go. She rounded several corners and raced down a narrow hallway. The screaming continued, but the more she ran the louder it became. "I'm coming!" She yelled._

 _She turned one last corner to find a set of double doors. She didn't hesitate, she ran and burst through them. But what she saw wasn't what she expected._ _The person_ _screaming w_ _as her._

 _The young girl Jade recognized as herself was tied to a chair. She had several tubes sticking out of her, all filled with a light blue liquid._ _The tubes seemed to be injecting her with it._

 _"Again,'' Someone said. A doctor most likely. An assistant nodded then pulled a lever. The screaming came so loud that this time, Jade had to cover her ears. She closed her eyes, but when she opened them she was in the chair. Tears streamed down her face. The order from the doctor came again. Electricity surged into her. Jade screamed. She begged for them to stop, but they ignored her. Lightening like pain shot through her body. Another scream escaped her. She tried to kneel over, but the straps kept her upright. Another order_ came.

 _"No," Jade whispered. The man was beside her now. He leaned down next to her ear._

 _"You'll be a powerful weapon when we're done with you. You'll help us in more ways than you ever could imagine. You will help us bring peace, you'll help us beat the Avengers." Jade squeezed her eyes shut at his voice._

 _"Please," She begged again. The man chuckled._

 _"Again," He ordered. Jade felt the pain and gave another glass shattering scream._

-o-X-o-

Bang!

Jade felt pain erupt on the side of her head. Her eyes flew open and she shot up. Bam! Now the front of her head hurt. She collapsed back down. Her eyes started to focus and she realized where she was. She was lying under the bench she had been sitting on.

"Jade, are you alright?" Natasha's alarmed voice drew her attention. Jade turned her head to look at her. Steve. Natasha, Bruce, and Thor were all looking at her as if she had grown two heads.

"What?" She managed to get out. She pulled herself out from under the bench and sat up. She brought a hand up and rubbed her forehead where she had smacked it on the bench.

"You were having a nightmare. Natasha was trying to wake you up, but you went right through her and the bench and ended up on the floor," Steve answered. It took Jade a second to make sense of what he was saying to her. Natasha gently grabbed onto her arm and helped Jade to her feet.

"That was amazing." Jade heard Bruce mutter. He took off his headphones and stood. "Did you see that? She seemed to vibrate right through Natasha and the bench! That was simply amazing!" He exclaimed. Natasha looked over her shoulder at him.

"Do you have to nerd out right now?" She asked him. His amazed expression softened a bit, but you could still see the excitement in his eyes.

Jade sat back down on the bench and put her head in her hands. Her cheeks felt damp from tears she didn't remember crying. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tony come down to them.

"We're almost there. I've had Dr. Cho prep the lab for Barton." He looked at the group. "Did I miss something?" He asked when nobody responded. Steve answered him.

"Jade had a nightmare and went through Natasha and the bench." A bewildered look crossed Tony's face.

"You did your party trick without me?" Tony teased Jade. He pretended to be utterly offended. Jade lifted her head to look at him.

"Sorry, you'll have to wait until my next mental breakdown to see it," Jade joked, but by the look on everybody's faces they didn't find it very funny. Bruce even looked down at the floor. "That was a joke," Jade said trying to lighten the mood. They didn't respond. Natasha sat beside Jade and put a hand on her back.

"What were you dreaming about?" She quietly asked. Jade looked down at the floor. Tony turned away, walked back up to the pilots chair, and sat down.

"Nothing." She didn't want to talk about it. She was having a hard enough time understanding it herself. Natasha gave her a 'I don't believe you for a second and don't think you're going to get out of telling me' look, but didn't press the subject.

After a few minutes the Quinjet landed and the hatch opened. A tall woman with dark hair rushed in and took Barton off the ship.

"I'll catch up with you later," Natasha said to Jade before leaving with the doctor. Thor and Banner left to go do whatever it is that they do after a battle. Jade stood up as a lady holding a tablet walked up the ramp.

"Lab's all set up, boss," She said walking past Jade. She hadn't seemed to notice that Jade was there yet. Tony spun around in his pilots chair to face her.

"Oh, actually he's the boss," Tony said pointing to Steve. "I just pay for everything, and design everything, and make everyone look cooler." Tony stands.

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked ignoring Tony. He stood and walked over to the lady.

"NATO's got em'." She quickly replied.

"The two enhanced?" The lady gives him a strange look.

"Two? I thought there were three?"

"Hi," Jade said. The lady turned to look at her. She nodded, and turned back to look at Steve.

"Long story, I'll tell you later," He said. "What about the other two?" The lady handed him the tablet.

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins, orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building." She continued to talk as they walk off the ship. Leaving Jade and Tony standing there.

''Who was that?" Jade asked not taking her eyes off of the retreating back of the woman. Tony looked up from what he was working on to follow Jade's line of sight.

"Maria Hill. Former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She came to work for Stark Industries after their self destruction." Jade looked over at him. He finished what he was doing and walked past her. He stopped walking when he noticed she wasn't following. "You coming?" He asked. Jade scooped up her backpack and walked over to him. They walked down the ramp in step with each other. "I had J.A.R.V.I.S. prepare a room for you. Filled it some of the 'girly' things that a normal teenage girl your age usually likes."

"I'm not very normal," Jade said looking up at him. Tony bobbed his head back and forth in acknowledgment, and mafe and 'eh' sound. They walked into a kitchen and Tony opened a drawer. He pulled out a small, light blue item.

"For you." He handed the watch to Jade. "It's connected to J.A.R.V.I.S., so if you have any questions on how to get around just ask him. It has a map of the tower on it too, your bedroom will be on the 11th floor. Do whatever you want until diner. Just don't cause to much trouble," Tony said then he brushed past Jade and started to walk away.

"Wait!'' Jade called. "That's it? After everything that's happened you trust me?"

"J.A.R.V.I.S. will alert me if anything happens, or if you try to leave. So don't get any ideas. You'll get a message via watch when diner is ready." That's all he said before he got onto an elevator and disappeared. Jade thought he seemed a little preoccupied with something else, but who is she to make a judgment?

Jade strapped the watch on then looked around the room. It was nice, very open with lots of space. She rocked back and forth on her heals, not sure what she should make of the situation. She was also at a loss of what she should do. She wouldn't mind sleeping if it meant she could actually get some rest.

"Would you like to go to your room now, Miss Jade?" A voice said out of nowhere. Jade gave a small shriek and spun around. She failed to see anybody though. "I'm sorry if I frightened you. I am J.A.R.V.I.S Mr. Stark's' program. I was wondering if you'd like me to help you to your room?" Jade nodded her head. This was beyond weird.

"Yes, thank you," Jade said. She waited for J.A.R.V.I.S. to say something.

''You'll have to enter the elevator." Jade jerked into motion.

"Oh, right," She laughed at herself slightly embarrassed. She entered the small space and watched the doors close. She listened to the soft ding the elevator made as it passed floors.

All in all it was a awkward ride. Jade let out a sigh of relief when the doors opened to her floor. She stepped out into the empty hallway. "Um, J.A.R.V.I.S.?" She said.

"Walk forward, take the first right, your room will have your name on it," He replied. Jade was relived to have him helping her.

"Thanks." She followed his instructions and found her room. On the door was a small slip of paper with her name scribbled on it. She smiled at the messy handwriting, and left the note on the door. She might need it later to find her room. She slowly opened the door.

The walls were white with scenic pictures on the wall. The pictures were of parks and flowers. A bed was against the far wall and the bedding was light blue and black with white pillows on top. Over on the other wall was a window seat with bookshelves underneath. There were six or seven books on the shelves. A desk was next to the bed, and on top was a small lamp.

Jade dropped her backpack on the desk, walked over to the closet, and opened it. She found several new shirts and pants. She also found what looked like pajamas. One pair that caught her eye was white with grey cats on them. Jade had never worn anything of the sort. Kitty pajamas was not something Hydra gave out to it's experiments.

Jade was in complete awe. She had never had her own room. Sure she always had a cell to herself, but never with anything in it besides a small bed.

"Do you like it?" The voice asked. Jade nodded as a large smile spread across her face.

"It's perfect," She breathed.

'I'm pleased you like it. May I suggest you get some rest? It is only a few hours till diner and I suspect you are quite tired." Jade bight her lip. She hadn't slept well on the Quinjet and didn't want a repeat of what had happened, but she was extremely tired. "You're worried about having another nightmare." Jade nodded. She didn't question on how he knew that she had already had one on the Quinjet.

"Yes," She admitted.

''Could wake you if you begin to have one," J.A.R.V.I.S. offered.

"You can do that?" Jade asked looking at the ceiling.

"Yes, your pulse is recorded on your watch. If I find that it's quickening I will wake you with an alarm sound, or I can alert Mr. Stark." Jade considered the offer. It could work. She would like to rest before she had to be social tonight.

"Sure, let's do it, but could you try the alarm thing before you tell Stark? I don't want to bother him," She said. The window darkened and the lights dimmed.

"Yes, I can. Have a nice nap Miss Jade." Jade nodded, went over to the bed and crawled under the covers. She was sound asleep in minutes.


	8. Chapter 8

Jade woke up to a very annoying beeping sound. She bolted out of bed and was standing in a second. Her instincts told her to run, but something in the back of her in mind told her to stop for a moment. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she realized where she was. Her bedroom, in Stark Tower.

"Sorry to frighten you, Miss," J.A.R.V.I.S. said. Jade flinched a little, startled, she wasn't expecting the sound.

"No, it's fine. Thank you for waking me up," She said to the ceiling. The shades came off the window and the lights came on.

"You're welcome. Diner will be ready soon. May I suggest a wardrobe change?" Jade looked down at herself. Did she look that bad? Yes, yes she did. She hadn't brushed her hair for over two days; it looked like a rats nest. Her clothes, that had been clean when she got them, now were covered in mud and something she couldn't place.

"Good idea," She said. She walked over to the closet and picked out a new outfit. A grey shirt and jean shorts that came to her knees. She went into the bathroom, that J.A.R.V.I.S. had so kindly pointed out to her.

She changed quickly and began a search for a brush. She found one and after fifteen minutes of pulling the knots out of her hair she was finally satisfied. She debated on what to do with it. She decided that there was no point on putting it up so she left it down. Curious she opened the drawers to see what could possibly be in them.

Combs, nail polish, hair ties, more brushes, headbands, and a few sparkly stickers Jade had no idea what the stickers were even for. She picked up a bright yellow headband and slid it on. She looked in the mirror. She took the headband off and tried putting it back on. After what felt like forever she had gotten it in a position that didn't make her hair stick out in weird angles.

She felt her wristwatch buzz, and she looked down to see what had happened.

 **Diner has arrived - T.** She read. She grabbed Natasha's jacket from off the counter and headed out the door and out into the hallway.

She remembered the way to the elevator and got on. She pushed the button for the floor she had originally been on, and hoped that was the right one. Considering that J.A.R.V.I.S. didn't correct her it probably was.

When the door opened she was greeted by Thor. He smiled at her and motioned for her to come out. She walked with him to the kitchen where everyone else was. Tony and Bruce weren't there she noticed.

''How was your afternoon?" Natasha asked. She was sitting on a bar stool, Steve was leaning on the counter, and Clint was sitting on the couch in the adjoining living room. Natasha motioned for her to come sit by her. Jade crossed the room and Thor went and sat beside Clint.

"It was good," Jade said while climbing onto the tall seat. "Here's your jacket?" She held out the article of clothing to Nat. Natasha shook her head.

"You keep it," She said. "It looks good on you." Jade's eyes lit up. Nobady had ever given her anything, well, anything other than trouble. Natasha then looked over at Steve like she was expecting him to say something.

"What?" Jade asked looking between them.

"We were wondering if you would be willing to take a test tomorrow?" Steve asked. Jade tilted her head and looked at him sideways. "Not a written test. More of a check up, just to make sure you're in good physical health. The thing is Dr. Cho would like you to use your powers to see if she can figure out why they make your head hurt," He clarified. Natasha put her hand on Jade's back.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," She said quietly in Jade's ear.

"No, no." Jade shook her head. "It's fine." A smile spread across Steve's face and Natasha grinned slightly. She wouldn't mind using her powers if it meant she could get rid of the splitting headache that came with them.

Jade felt weird to see people happy, smiles were so few and far between from where she came from. She decided she liked it. It made her feel like she belonged.

"Can the injured get some food over here?" Clint called from the couch. Jade spun her stool around to face him.

"Are you alright? You didn't look very good in the forest," Jade said. Clint smiled at her.

"I'm alright, kid. Except for the fact that my stomach is now eating my intestine, I'm good." Steve smiled shook his head at Clint's ridiculous statement. A small ding brought everyone's attention to the elevator. The door opened and out came a beaming Tony. He was carrying a least twelve boxes of pizza and a large basket of bread sticks.

"It looks like I'm feeding a small army," He complained with a smile as he entered the kitchen.

"Where's Bruce?" Steve asked. Tony put the food on the counter and Natasha grabbed two bread sticks and handed one to Jade.

"He's working on something with me. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to work," Tony answered before taking a pizza box and running up a flight of stairs and out of sight.

"What is he working on?" Jade asked between bites of bread stick. Natasha shrugged.

"We stopped asking, it was to confusing to understand when he told us anyway." Jade nodded.

"Food please," Clint said from the couch. Jade grabbed a pizza box and hopped off the stool.

"What? You almost die and you think you get to order us about?" Jade teased. She plopped down beside him and opened the box. Clint took a piece and Jade followed his lead and took a piece of her own.

"Have you never had pizza?" Clint asked. Jade shook her head.

"Nope, just a bunch of pills and flavorless mush where I come from." Jade did her best for her statement to sound light. Clint smiled at her.

"Well then, let me show you how it's done." He rolled up his piece like a rug and continued to try and fit the whole piece in his mouth. Jade widened her eyes at him. Natasha erupted in laughter.

"No, no you have to do it like this," Nat insisted. She took two pieces of pizza and put them together like a sandwich and started to eat them that way. Clint took it as a challenge and grabbed another piece of pizza and tried to stuff it in his mouth. Jade started to laugh and Steve did his best to calm them down to no avail, he eventually gave up and started to eat pizza, the way Jade assumed to be, the normal way. Thor joined in on the fun and started to try to stuff three pieces of pizza in his mouth.

When everyone was done eating Jade looked around and noticed some board games on the shelves of the nearby TV stand.

"Do you want to try one?" Clint asked. He had seen her looking at them and wondered if she even knew how to play.

"I've never played a board game before, but if you want to try I would like to too," Jade said. Clint smiled and sat up straighter. He motioned for her to pick one, she leapt off the couch and over to the shelf.

'Shoots and ladders, Sequence, Chess, Cranium, Sorry,' Jade read the names on the boxes to herself. She eventually picked one called 'Battleship'.

"What about this one?" She asked Clint as she was carried the box over to the couch.

"Mmm, battleship, good choice, kid." At that sentence Natasha perked her head up.

"You don't want to play that," She said. Jade gave her a questioning look.

"Clint's the master at that game," Steve explained. "I've never seen him loose." Jade took that statement as a challenge.

"Well, it's time someone put him in his place." Jade smiled. She knew that she probably had no idea what she was getting into, especially since she had never even played the game before.

"Oh, it's on now you little punk," Clint teased. He quickly explained the game and handed Jade the blue board. When she asked about it Clint said that red was his lucky color. Jade decided not to question his methods; he was the master after all.

-o-X-o-

"J-10." Clint said triumphantly. Jade starred at her board in amazement. He had completely obliterated her, it hadn't even been close. Clint looked at her expectantly.

"Hit and sunk," Jade mumbled. Clint gave a small shout of victory and shot his hands on the air, only to cringe a little from his injury. Steve laughed a little and Nat joined in.

"Don't say we didn't warn you," Steve teased. Jade ran a hand through her hair.

"I can't believe it. You weren't joking when you called him the master." Clint shrugged at her statement a huge smile on his face.

"Consider it payback for when you ditched me in Brazil," Clint said to her. Jade rolled her eyes.

"That was two days ago. You have got to get over it," Jade said sarcastically. She couldn't believe how easily they accepted her, how they didn't hold her running spree against her. Forgiveness was the word that came to mind.

"You know, you're way different than I thought you'd be," Clint said to Jade in a more solemn tone.

"What did you think I would be like?" Jade asked. She smiled and tilted her head at him.

"I thought you were smart, and I was right about that. You'd have to be to get away from Stark, but I thought you'd be more..." Clint waved his hand searching for the right word. "Damaged, I guess. You seem to light-hearted to be a Hydra experiment."

Jade thought about the statement. Light-hearted? It was just her personality, she didn't feel that you had to be mean and cruel to be a part of Hydra, though, it most of the time it helped. She was also pretty optimistic, which in her book, was a good thing.

"It might help that I'm missing some of my memories too," Jade decided. She noticed Natasha nod her head back and forth.

"We should get some rest," Steve said with a sigh, changing the subject. "We all have things to do, and it's already ten o'clock." Natasha wasn't one to openly tell others when to go to bed. She assumed that they were grown up enough to make that judgement themselves, but she did agree with Steve on this one. Mostly on the fact that Jade should rest, Nat hadn't forgotten what had happened earlier, though, she still had yet to approach the girl on the matter. Nat thought some solid sleep would be good for the girl.

"I agree," She said. Steve raised his eyebrows at her statement. "Don't read into that," Nat said pointing at him. "Come on, chic, I'll walk you to your room." She reached her hand out to Jade. Jade shrugged and got up.

"Okay, see ya'll later," Jade said in parting. Her and Nat walked out the room and to the elevator.

"Don't feel bad," Natasha said during the ride. "Clint beats people at that game all the time." Jade smiled up at her.

"I'll beat him eventually, I just need a good strategy plan." Jade rubbed her hands together and did an evil laugh. It made Natasha smile a bit.

"What happened on the Quinjet?" Natasha asked. The mood shifted immediately. Natasha felt Jade tense beside her, but didn't retract the question.

"I don't really know," Jade admitted. "I always had to take pills before I went to sleep when I was with Hydra, they might've been the reason why I've never had that problem before. I also didn't have nightmares there either, so I can't come to a solid scientific conclusion."

Natasha noticed how the girl avoided the real reason behind her question.

"I meant the nightmare," Natasha explained. Jade looked at the floor. She knew what Natasha meant the first time, she just didn't know if she was ready to talk about it. Jade was saved by the ding of the elevator, signaling that they had arrived.

"See you tomorrow," Jade said and tried to walk off the elevator, but Natasha put a hand on her shoulder.

"Jade," Nat said her name carefully.

"I know, I'll talk about it when I'm ready. Promise." Natasha nodded. She didn't want to chase the girl away, but she didn't want her to keep putting off dealing with it.

"Okay. Have a good night."

"You too." Jade walked off and didn't look back. She found her room no problem and shut the door behind her. She collapsed on her bed not bothering to change out of her clothes.

"Did you have a nice night, Miss Jade?" Jade heard the voice ask. Jade nodded to the ceiling.

"Ya, I did. Clint destroyed me at Battleship, though." Jade smiled at the thought. It had been her first game when someone didn't end up injured or almost dead. She liked the Avengers version of a game better than Hydra's.

"I saw. You did quite good for your first time." J.A.R.V.I.S. said. Jade sat up.

"You saw it?" She asked a plan formulating in her head.

"Why, yes. It was a good game," J.A.R.V.I.S. said. Jade grinned at the revelation.

"Could you see his board?" She slyly asked.

"Yes, I could," He answered. Jade let a wicked smile spread across her face.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., I think I have a plan."


	9. Chapter 9

"Come on J.A.R.V.I.S., it'll be fun," Jade said putting a earpiece in. She had just finished her checkup for the day. Dr. Cho had been nice, and she had given Jade 'a clean bill of health', whatever that meant. When she asked Jade to use her powers Jade had complied. All she had to do was put her hand through a table, not to strenuous. Dr. Cho had given Jade a pain killer for her headache and told her that it would take a few days for her test results to come back. Apparently, she thought that her powers were a few milliseconds out of sync with the rest of her body, which was sending incorrect signals to her brain giving her a headache. That was all Jade could understand.

Before her checkup she had given Bruce her files. She had decided to throw away her old training. It wasn't worth the work it would need repairing it so she had decided to just be rid of it.

"I don't think this is a very good idea," J.A.R.V.I.S. said through her earpiece. When she had dropped off the files she asked to borrow one, and he had miraculously said yes. He seemed very preoccupied, but he had asked her how her night was. Her night had been fine, up until the point she had fallen through her bed and had gotten trapped underneath. It had been alright. J.A.R.V.I.S. had turned on the lights and she had crawled out. It was the same nightmare as the night before. She still didn't know what to make of it.

"You have no imagination," Jade said back. She was standing in the elevator waiting for it to arrive on the floor with the living room on it. She hoped Clint would be there, and that he wouldn't be off somewhere getting ready for the party tonight.

Jade wasn't aloud to go. Steve said it would be better to waiting until most of the people to leave before she should come out. Jade agreed. She wasn't that great with large groups of people, and her social skills were not exactly what you'd call perfect.

"Well, I am a program." Jade nodded her head back and forth. The night before she had come up with a plan to beat Clint. It was simple if you thought about it. There was no way she was going to win playing fair, so she decided to enlist the help of J.A.R.V.I.S., as a joke of course.

The door opened and Jade walked off. She went to the living room. Clint and Natasha both sat on the couch, Thor was in the kitchen and it looked like he was making a sandwich.

"I'm just saying," Natasha said just as Jade walked in.

"Sometimes I wonder about you," Clint said shaking his head. Jade sat down beside him.

"What are just saying?" Jade asked. She sat cross legged and sat straighter.

"Nothing," Clint snapped at Natasha. Nat rolled her eyes.

"All I said was that it's only murder if they find the body, otherwise it's just a missing persons case," Nat explained. Jade mad and 'O' shape with her mouth and nodded. Clint violently shook his head.

"That's not how it works, and you shouldn't be saying things like that in front of Jade." Now it was Jade's turn to roll her eyes.

"I've heard worse things than that," Jade said patting Clint's knee. "But on different note, I want a rematch." Clint looked over at her and smiled. Natasha raised her eyebrows.

"Really? I didn't beat you bad enough last time?" He teased.

"What are you trying to pull?" Natasha narrowed her eyes at Jade. Jade gave her the most innocent smile she could.

"Me? Trying to pull something? You wound me." Jade put her hand over her heart dramatically. Clint smiled between the two of them.

"If you think you're ready for it, then let's go for it," He said. Jade jumped off her seat and zipped to the game. She checked to make sure her earpeice was still there.

"I'm here." She heard J.A.R.V.I.S. say to her. They set up the game quickly and Clint made the first move.

"B-4," He said. Jade gaped at her board.

"Hit," She mumbled. Clint let out a victories hoot and placed a red pin on his board. Nat shook her head sure this was going to end like last night. "H-7," Jade said. Clint stopped for a moment.

"Uh, hit," He replied. Jade tried to hide a smile, but Nat saw it. They played for another half an hour. Clint would occasionally miss, but with J.A.R.V.I.S's help, Jade got it right every single time.

"A-9," Jade said triumphantly. Clint let out a defeated squeak.

"Hit and sunk," He said miserably. A smile spread across Jade's face.

"What was that?" Jade asked placing a hand behind her ear. Clint gave her a fake glare.

"I'm not saying it again," He answered. Nat clapped him on the back and stood.

"We should start getting ready," Natasha said. Clint nodded and stood next to her.

"I agree. Winner picks up the game by the way," Clint sad to Jade.

"Fair enough," She said. She started to pick up the scattered pieces and neatly put them back in the box. Clint left with Thor. Jade smiled as she heard Thor teasing Clint about losing to 'a child'. Natasha stayed.

"That was a impressive game, Jade," She said after Jade had finished picking up. Jade stood to face her. 'She knows,' Jade thought to herself, but quickly expelled the idea from her brain. How could she know?

"Beginners luck?" Jade stated it as a question. She was trying to keep the guilty look off her face. Natasha shrugged.

"I'll see you later tonight." She said. Natasha started to walk out, but stopped when she got to the doorway. "Oh and Jade," Jade looked back at her. "If you ever pull a stunt like that with me, I'll make sure you become one of those missing person cases." Jade's eyes widened, and Natasha walked out of sight. Jade hoped she was kidding.

-o-X-o-

Jade had been in the movie room most of the night. She had been banished to the room after the first of the guests arrived. Tony had told her that she was aloud to watch anything in the collection. She had chosen and animated one about this little Hawaiian girl who accidentally adopts an alien. Jade thought it was cute.

She watched two more movies and ate leftover pizza. After the third movie she thought she might be able to come out.

"Hey J.A.R.V.I.S., is everyone gone yet?" She asked. She waited, but no response came. "Weird," She said out loud. She walked out of the room and to the stairs. The Avenger's party was only on the floor below her so she didn't think she needed to take the elevator.

"I have a simpler theory," Jade heard Thor say as she came down the stairs. "You're all not worthy." Jade heard the group groan. Jade smiled just as a high pitched noise reached her ears. Jade brought her hands up to her ears and looked around. After a second she saw a figure.

"No," It said turning around. "How could you be worthy? You're all killers." It waved in their direction. The Avengers focused on the creature, and Jade realized they hadn't even seen her yet.

"Stark," Steve said.

"J.A.R.V.I.S." Tony ignored Steve.

"I'm sorry I was asleep, or I was a dream," The thing said. Tony said something to is phone. "There was this terrible noise and I was tangled in...in..strings. Had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." Jade stepped forward to hear better.

"You killed someone?" Steve asked. Natasha looked at Tony.

"Oh gosh, where's Jade?" She asked.

"Right hear," Jade said. Nat turned around to look at her. Jade nodded at her then turned back to look at the machine.

"Wouldn't have been my first call, but down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices," The machine answered. The thing stepped closer.

"Who sent you?" Thor asked. Tony Stark's voice filled the room.

"I see a suit of armor around the world." Bruce's head snapped up to look at Tony.

"Ultron," He said.

"In the flesh, or no, not yet. Not this chrysalis, but I'm ready," Who Jade assumed Ultron replied. Agent Hill slowly stood up, and Jade saw she was holding a gun at the ready. "I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked.

"Peace in our time." Two iron legion machines flew out and Jade ducked down beneath a table. Steve kicked up a table. The machines hit it. Jade saw Thor hit one with his hammer. Clint ran over and slid down next to Jade.

"Run," Clint managed to get out before energy bolts flew at them. Clint grabbed onto Jade and they ran out from behind the table. Clint slid down a ramp, but Jade continued to run. Thor threw half a legionnaire over a railing. It slowly flew up and pointed a hand at Dr. Cho. Jade ran faster. Not thinking she ran right through it, but she took a few out it's circuits on the way out. It collapsed on the floor. Jade slid down next to the Doctor.

"Thanks," Cho breathed. Jade nodded.

"Don't thank me yet," She said. Her heart thrummed in her ear.

"Cap!" Clint called. Clint threw his shield. Steve caught it, spun, and threw it. It hit it's make and smashed a legionnaire to pieces. Jade stood up and Cho followed her motion. The chaos stopped for a moment.

"That was dramatic," Ultron said. Jade looked over to him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tony sit on the stairs. "I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not aloud to evolve?" Ultron continued. He walked over to a destroyed legionnaire and picked it up. "With these? These puppets?" He snapped off the face cover. Jade slowly walked over to where Clint was standing.

"There's only one path to peace: the Avengers extinction." Thor threw his hammer and destroyed it before it could say anything else. "I had strings, but now I'm free," Ultron said before the light in his eyes went out.


	10. Chapter 10

"The staff." Jade wasn't sure who said it, but it sure got everyone's attention. The group moved into action. They all ran to the stairs and raced up them. Jade looked to Dr. Cho and a silent message passed between them. Safer was with the Avengers so that's where they'd be.

They ran across the room and bounded up the stairs after the team. Together they entered the room. Jade saw that Natasha had traded her dress for a tank top and pants. Dr. Cho went straight to Natasha and together they leaned over a computer screen. Jade went up the small set of stairs and stood next to Clint.

"Are you alright?" Clint asked her. Jade nodded.

"I'm alright," Jade answered. "What was that thing?" Clint shrugged and ran a hand through his hair.

"I think we're about to find out," Clint said. Bruce stood up from a chair.

"All our work is gone," Bruce said. He didn't sound irritated, he sounded exasperated. "Ultron cleared out. Used the internet as an escape route." Steve shook his head.

"Ultron," He muttered under his breath. He glared at Tony, who was looking down at a broken legionnaire.

"It's been in everything," Nat said swiping a screen on the table. Jade and Clint turned their head to look at her. "Files, surveillance, probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Something Natasha said made Clint shift nervously. Jade picked up on the movement immediately. Her first thought was that he was hiding something, but he was an Avenger he didn't hide things from his team.

"He's in the files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" A man that Jade hadn't met yet said. She gave a questioning look to Clint.

"Tony's friend, James Rhodes," He quickly explained. Somehow he knew exactly what Jade was thinking. Agent Hill's head popped up and she stopped picking glass out of her feet for a moment.

"Nuclear codes," She said. James nodded and waved his hand.

"Nuclear codes," He confirmed. "Look we need to make some calls assuming we still can." Hill looked back down at her feet and, using tweezers, she picked a large piece of glass out of the middle of her foot. She used a rag to her to wipe some of the blood off of the wound. Jade swallowed, she was grateful she had decided to put her shoes on before leaving the screening room.

"Nukes?" Natasha asked. She stood up from her position and turned around. "He said he wanted us dead-" Her sentence was cut short by Steve.

"He didn't say dead. He said extinct," He put in. It was less for correction and more for helping them get into a different mind set. Clint looked down at Jade and then took a few steps toward the group.

"He said he killed somebody," Clint said. he put his hand on the rail and leaned down. Hill pointed her tweezers up.

"There wasn't anyone else in the building." Her sentence made Tony's ears prick up. He turned to face them and grabbed his phone off the counter.

"Yes there was." Tony flipped his phone and an orange mess appeared. At the sight everyone shifted and walked closer to it, except Hill who remained seated. If Jade wasn't informed different a few moments later she would've thought it was a disassembled puzzle ball.

Bruce stepped closest and spread his arms in a confused manner.

"This is insane," He murmured.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. was the first line of defense. He would've shut down Ultron it makes sense," Steve said. At his words Jade's stomach sunk. That was J.A.R.V.I.S.? What had happened?

"No, no, Ultron could've shut down J.A.R.V.I.S.. This isn't strategy, this is rage," Bruce interrupted. Loud footsteps broke Jade's attention from Bruce. Tony turned around to just in time to see Thor grab him by the throat.

"It's going around," Clint joked with a serious face. Jade would've smiled if it had been under different circumstances.

"Come on, use your words, buddy," Tony croaked.

"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark, fortunately for you a child is present," Thor said to him. Jade smiled a bit when she realized the child he was talking about was her.

"Thor," Steve interrupted. "The legionnaire?" Thor set Tony back down and pushed him away.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genie's out of that bottle," Natasha said. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," Dr. Cho said looking down at some broken machinery. She had moved across the room to the table Tony had previously been looking at. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" There was silence for a moment then laughter started. Jade snapped her head toward the sound, only to discover that it was Tony who was laughing. Bruce shook his head at him.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked pointing at Tony. Jade looked over at Clint and then back to Tony. She was beginning to wonder if the billionaire had finally lost his marbles.

"No," Tony answered seriously. "It's probably not, right?" He looked around the room. "Is this very terrible? Is it so, it is, it's so terrible," Tony said with a laugh.

"This all could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you didn't understand," Thor snapped.

"No, I'm sorry. It is funny, it's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony walked up to Thor and said it to his his face.

"Tony," Bruce said the name in a high pitched voice. "Maybe this might not be the time-" He was interrupted by Stark.

"Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot," Bruce replied. Jade held back a snicker. This was definitely not the right time to make light of the situation.

"We didn't," Tony spread his arms out. "We didn't, we weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Bruce sarcastically shrugged and nodded his head.

"Well you did something right," Steve interjected. "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different from S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Anybody remember me flying a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked.

"No, it's never come up," Rhodey said shaking his head.

"Saved New York?" Natasha rolled her eyes. "Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it," Tony said. Jade listened, she had never heard about this.

"We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but that up there, that's the real fight. How are you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together," Steve answered simply. Tony stepped closer to Steve.

"We'll lose."

"Then we'll do that together too." Tony and Steve looked at each other for a moment. Tony broke eye contact first and looked away. "Thor 's right. Ultron's calling us out, and I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place, so lets start making it smaller."

They nodded and Natasha went back to the computer, while Tony left the room like it was on fire. Steve walked over to Rhodey and whispered in his ear.

"Dr. Cho," Steve walked over to the lady. "I'm sure you're tired. Rhodey will make sure you get home alright." Dr. Cho nodded and said a thank you before her and Rhodey left. Jade watched them leave.

"You should probably get some rest, it'll be morning before you know it," Clint said to Jade. She shook her head.

"I don't think I'll be able to, and even if I did the possibility of me getting trapped under my bed again is extremely high," Jade answered. She looked down at her sweatpants and grey sweatshirt. "But I do think I'll change, though." Clint smiled down at her and ruffled her hair.

"Atta girl. I'm going to make a phone call, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Clint joked. He walked down the stairs send out to the hallway. Jade turned in the opposite direction and went to the elevator. She rode down and wen straight to her bedroom. She flipped on the lights and closed the curtains. The sun was beginning to rise, Jade had officially pulled her first all nighter. Not that it had been her goal the night before, but a small accomplishment was still an accomplishment. Jade quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a purple t-shirt. She also changed her slip ons for a pair of tennis shoes. She went back to the elevator.

When she arrived back in he lab she discovered that Steve and Hill were both gone and that Stark had returned. Stark had changed into more appropriate clothing. Moments later Steve walked onto the room. He went over to where Thor, Natasha, and Tony were. Jade walked over and stood beside Natasha. Steve handed Thor a tablet.

"What's this?" Thor asked looking down at the screen. Clint walked in and stood beside Jade.

"A message," Steve answered. Thor huffed and slapped the tablet to Tony's chest. "Ultron killed Strucker." The sentence got Bruce's attention and he walked over to the group.

"Mmmm, just for us," Tony said. Bruce looked over Tony's shoulder.

"This is a smoke screen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha said. Jade considered the question.

"What if he knew something? Something he didn't want you to find out," Jade put in. Natasha starred into space for a moment.

"Let me check something," Natasha said. Her fingers flew across the keyboard. Clint nudged Jade. Jade looked up and Clint smiled down at her. "Yep, looks like the girl was right. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything," Tony said. They all looked over at Tony. "What you don't think I would keep paper backups of all my files?" They looked between each other. Tony noticed the looks and he rolled his eyes. "Come on,"

-o-X-o-

When Tony said he had files he meant he had a huge closet with hundreds of paper boxes in it.

"Okay you have paper copies," Steve said. "Which box is it?" Tony rolled up his sleeves.

"Absolutely no idea."

Jade pulled out the box nearest her and set it on a nearby stool. They search for about an hour before they found the correct box.

"Known associates," Steve said and sifted through a large box. He started to pull out several files and hand them to Bruce. "Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible," Bruce said. Jade, who was also looking through the files Steve had given them, nodded in agreement.

"They're absolutely awful," Jade agreed.

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Tony said pointing at a file Bruce had in his hand. "I know that guy, back in the day. He operates of the African coast black market arms." Steve gives Tony a judging look.

"Hey, there are conventions I meet people, alright?. I never sold him anything. He was talking about something, a game changer."

"What are those?" Thor asked pointing at the picture.

"Tattoos," Tony answered. Jade smiled. She knew Thor wasn't from around here, but she thought he would at least know about simple things like that.

"No," Thor said patiently. "Those are tattoos, this is a brand." Bruce took a quick look at the symbol and jumped into a chair. The chair rolled over to in front of a computer and he started typing.

"Oh Ya, this is a symbol in a African dialect meaning thief in a much less friendly way." Bruce said.

"What language?" Steve asked crossing his arms.

"WA-can-aaada," Bruce tried to pronounce the name on the screen. Jade walked closer and read the screen.

"Wakanda," Jade corrected. She had heard of the place before, but had never been. Tony and Steve looked at each other.

"If this guy got out Wakanda with a little trade goods..." Tony said.

"I though your father said he got he rest of it," Steve shot back. Jade looked down at Bruce only to discover he was as lost as she was.

"I- I don't follow," Bruce said standing. "What comes out of Wakanda?" He asked. Steve looked down at his shield.

"The strongest metal in the world," Tony answered.


	11. Chapter 11

"What do you mean I can't go?" Jade asked Clint as he was gathering his weapons for the trip. Clint sighed and shoved some extra arrow heads into his bag.

"Exactly that. It would be safer for you if you stayed here," Clint said to her. Jade huffed and continued to follow him to the landing bay.

"I would stay with Bruce at the ship, I swear," Jade tried to convince him. He shook his head and stopped walking. He sharply turned around to face her.

"How do I know you won't run?"

Jade squinted at him. "I thought we were past this, and how do you know I won't run if you leave me here?" Clint rolled his eyes, turned back around, and headed for the ship. "What better way to keep an eye on me than if I came with you?" They stopped walking at the base of the ship's ramp. He turned back around to face her.

"This is where we part ways," Clint said. Jade opened her mouth to object, but a voice from behind interrupted her thoughts.

"You guys ready?" Tony asked. Jade turned around to look at him.

"Guys? You'll let me go?" Jade asked. Tony nodded.

"Ya, I have a hard time trusting you when we're in the same building, let alone when we're in a different country. You can keep Bruce company while we're kicking Tin Cans butt." Jade turned back around to look at a Clint. Clint pinched the bridge of his nose and gave a heavy sigh.

"Alright," Clint gave in. Jade gave him a huge smile and followed him into the ship. Jade sat on the familiar bench and watched as the rest of the team filed in.

"What's going on?" Steve asked as he walked in. It took Jade a second, but she realized the question was about her.

"The kid's tagging along. Is that alright?" Tony asked from the pilots chair. Steve looked down at Jade. She held up her hands.

"I said to leave her, but the girl was persistent," Clint said to Steve.

"I won't run. I swear," Jade said the second Clint finished his sentence. She wasn't irritated by their suspicions, they were completely warranted. She had caused the mistrust all on her own. Steve nodded and sat down across from her. When everyone was settled they took off.

-o-X-o-

They arrived without any problems. Jade spent the ride there listening in on Steve's mission briefing with the rest of the team. She had also over heard Steve reprimanded Tony for letting her come. She felt bad that she had caused such a problem.

As soon as the ship touched ground the team jumped out, leaving Jade and Bruce to fend for themselves. After they left Jade had started searching the ship for something to do. Bruce had sat on one of the many benches and started to type away on his computer.

"Wanna play Go Fish?" Jade asked after finding a stack of card games. She had also found that Tony had re-stalked Thor's stash of pop tarts. Jade made a mental note to hide them later. Bruce looked up from his computer and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why? So you can cheat, like you did with Clint?" Bruce was only half teasing.

"Natasha told you about that?" Jade asked, embarrassed. She didn't think Nat would tell anybody. "It was meant to be a joke."

Bruce held back a smile. He had laughed uncontrollably when Natasha had told him about what Jade had done to his teammate. He thought it was genius, he had never thought to use Jarvis for something like that. Bruce was about to say yes to the young girl, but static from the intercom stopped him. Bruce and Jade stood and both walked up to the intercom.

"What's going on?" Jade asked. She looked up at Bruce.

"I don't know," He said before more static came through. This time, though, it was much louder. Bruce pushed a button and spoke into a mic. "Guys, is this a code green?" He asked. More static and no reply.

"That can't be good," Jade said to herself. A loud explosion outside made them look at each other and then bolt for the ramp. They looked around and saw that Ironman and another figure were fighting up in the air. "What do we do?" Jade asked.

"You're not goin-" Bruce was cut off mid-sentence and he flew back into the ship.

"Banner!" Jade yelled. She turned to run up the ramp when she saw who had caused it. "You," Jade said in amazement. It was the silver haired man from the forest, but this time he was with someone.

"You," He said back pointing at Jade. Jade slowly walked the rest of the way up the ramp.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked. He shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something, but a dark haired lady interrupted him.

"Pietro," The brown haired girl said. He turned back to look at her. "Talk later, we have work to do." Bruce shakily stood up.

"And what might that work be?" He asked. He was stalling Jade realized. Jade slowly crept around Pietro and closer to Bruce. The girl didn't answer. She held up her hand toward Bruce's head. Jade's eyes widened at the sight of red power begin to illuminate in the girl's hand.

"Down!" Jade yelled as she pounced. She tackled Bruce and together the went down, down through the floor that is. They landed in a heap on the ground. Jade was on top of him.

"Don't go crazy," Jade managed to say as she scrambled off him.

"I won't, I won't," Bruce said. They got to their feet as fast as humanly possible. They ran out from under the ship.

"This isn't going to go well," Jade said as the twins came off the ship and walked into view.

"That is quite a trick," Pietro said. Jade saw him tense, and immediately phased. She crossed her arms in front of her, and she felt something go through her. She turned on her heal and took a defensive position. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other girl start to approach Bruce, and Bruce walking backward.

Jade could see that they were severely outmatched. She might be able to hold her own for awhile before she passed out, but Bruce had absolutely nothing to defend himself from the girl.

"Want to try again?" Jade sarcastically asked. If she could stall for time, someone might take notice of their predicament and help them out. Pietro smirked at her.

"Sure," He said. Jade phased and crossed her arms, but felt nothing go through. She heard a yell come from Bruce and her eyes snapped open. He was flat on his back. He started to scream in pain when red energy hit his head. Pietro zoomed over and stood by his sister.

"Banner!" Jade yelled again. She ran over and knelt next to him. He was holding his head as he sat up. He started to violently rock back and forth. "Banner, Banner, don't do this to me," Jade pleaded as his skin started to turn a shade of green. His arm shot out hitting Jade in the face. She flew several feet backward and landed on her upper back. She gasped for breath and sat up. Bruce was nowhere to be seen, what stood in his place was the Hulk.

Jade was back on her feet and was scared out of her wits. "Banner?" She quietly asked. The Hulk turned around to face her. His eyes were red and blood shot. Jade gasped and stepped backward. The twins watched in horror.

The Hulk let out a roar and jumped toward her.

Jade phased and tried to get out of the way. She was mostly successful. She backed away, and he swung his arm at her. She let out a small noise of surprise and ducked. When he missed he roared again. Jade held her hands over her ears. The Hulk threw his arms up, but this time Jade didn't phase. He brought his hands down, but he smashed them against the empty ground. Jade was gone.

She was moving to fast to see. She stopped moving and was tossed onto the ground. Jade was on her hands and knees and dry heaved.

"The correct response would be 'thank you'," Jade heard Pietro say. Jade gathered herself, slowly stood and turned to look at him. They were by a large boat, far away form the Hulk.

"Thanks," She said. She hated to admit it, but without him she would've been a human pancake.

Her head pounded. The pain from her head and the amount of energy she just spent also made her extremely light-headed. If you were wondering, no, it's not a good combination.

"Who are you?" The girl next to him asked. Jade looked at her.

"Jade Winters," She answered. "Who are you guys?" She asked. They had just attacked her, yes, but they also had saved her life so she figured it evened out.

"My name is Wanda Maximoff, this is my brother Pietro," Wanda said. Jade nodded.

"Nice to meet you," Jade said. "Now if you excuse me I have to get back to the ship." She tried to brush past Pietro, but he zipped around and stood in front of her.

"I don't think so," He said. Jade kept a neutral face and took a step back.

"Why not?" She coldly asked. She was trying to keep her thoughts straight, but she felt like she was going to pass out. Even as she spoke her vision was starting to blur.

"Because I told them not to," A voice from behind her said. She turned around, but she already knew who it was. "Nice to meet you, Jade," Ultron said. He landed and held out his hand. When Jade didn't move Ultron put his hand back down. "I'm sorry, is that not what people do when they meet new humans? Sometimes human habits are so weird."

Jade swallowed. This was bad, this was very, very bad. "What do you want?" She asked. She tried to keep her voice as calm as she possibly could. No point in letting him know she was scared.

"Didn't I already tell you?" He asked. "Peace in our time." He looked at Wanda, and she held out her hand. Jade didn't see what was happening in time and red clouded her vision before it all went dark.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. It's been crazy on this side of the screen. I've loved all the reviews, you guys are awesome. If I were you I've would've ditched this story a long time ago. I'm not sure about this chapter, it's definitely not my best work, but I enjoyed writing it. Hope ya'll like it!**

-o-X-o-

Steve held his head in his hands. The team had just gotten back from the boat and they weren't in great shape. Bruce had just finished mumbling out what had happened after the Avengers left. He didn't remember what had happened after he turned into the Hulk.

Nobody needed to say it, they all knew. Jade was gone. Whether she left of her own free will or was kidnapped they had yet to figure out.

"It's not your fault," Natasha said to Steve. She had come and sat by him during Bruce's story and had stayed there after he had finished. "It's nobody's fault."

"I shouldn't have let her come," Steve replied. "That was my mistake." He sat up and looked at Nat.

"She's probably fine," Nat tried to assure him. She was a telling herself the same thing, but questions were nagging at the back of her mind.

"And what is she's not? We don't know if she ran away or if..."

"If Ultron has her," Natasha finished. They were all torn up from what had happened, Bruce hadn't spoken since his brief story in a way he felt guilty about Jade's disappearance, Clint was flying the ship, and Tony was standing in a corner looking at his phone. Thor also hadn't spoken, in fact, Steve didn't even know if he had been listening at all. Thor seemed pretty out of it.

"We're here," Clint announced. Natasha and Steve stood together and followed Clint out.

-o-X-o-

Jade opened her eyes. She was laying on the metal floor of what seemed to be a jet. Her head pounded and she moaned as she sat up.

"Oh, I am in so much trouble," Jade said after she realized where she was. "Clint's gonna to kill me."

"Good to see you're awake," A voice to her left said. She turned her head and recognized the person who had spoken as Pietro.

"What am I doing here?" Jade asked slightly annoyed. The events from the morning before flew through her head, and she reprimanded herself for not seeing that it was a trap.

"Helping, to put it simply," A metallic voice said. Jade bolted to her feet and looked up at the robot. Her body screamed at her to move away, but she refused to act scarred even though she was.

"Maybe I don't want to help," She said. It was pointless to argue, he had the upper hand. She would have to what they told her to, whether she wanted to or not.

"Unfortunately, that's not up to you," Ultron said. Jade huffed and blew a piece of her hair out of her face.

"Story of my life," Jade muttered. "What do I have to do?"

"You'll see. Don't try anything, I'd hate to have to knock you out again." Ultron turned away from her and clomped up to the pilots seat. Jade was half tempted to Phase through the planes floor out of spite, but she would prefer to remain conscious during the flight.

"How did you get your powers?" Wanda asked walking out of the shadowy corner. She had been standing there watching how the scenario play out. Jade turned around to face the girl.

"Hydra," She answered. Jade wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure this was who had knocked her out. "What about you?" She was genuinely curious about it. It wasn't everyday that you meet someone with similar skills.

"Ours too," Pietro said. "Why did you do it?" Jade was taken back by his question. Why did she do what? Then she realized.

"You volunteered," It wasn't a question. Her stomach twisted. They asked for this to be done to them. They wanted their abilities, they gave Hydra permission to mess with them.

Pietro looked sideways at her. "You didn't?" He asked.

"Of coarse not!" She half yelled her answer. Wanda took a few steps closer and peered at the girl.

"Then how did they get you?" Wanda asked. Jade open her mouth to reply, then shut it. She didn't have an answer. She didn't remember. Hydra was all she could remember, and even those memories came from reoccurring nightmares and mental breakdowns. She had no recollection of her parents or how she came to be with Hydra.

"I don't know," Jade finally answered looking down at her shoes.

"How can you not know?" Pietro asked. Jade looked up to meet his eyes.

"I can't remember. Every time Hydra experimented on me it messed with my memory. It..." Jade waved her hands trying to find the right word. "Deleted, I guess, everything that Hydra didn't deem necessary for me to remember. Wanted me to concentrate on what they needed me to do." The twins looked at each other then back at Jade.

"I'm sorry," Pietro apologized. Jade shook her head.

"It's not your fault. Besides it's not like I miss it very much, I can't even remember what I should be missing." Jade discovered she meant what she said. She wasn't concerned about her memory. She would either get it back or she won't. She might as well focus on making new memories in the mean time, and right now she was making some serious new ones.

"Why did you do it?" Jade returned the question.

"Our parents died in a bombing. We want revenge on who did it to them," Wanda answered. Jade nodded.

"Revenge is a funny thing," Jade said. "You do things you would never do otherwise, and rarely do you not regret it afterword."

"It was Stark," Wanda snapped.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Jade said trying to hide her surprise. Heavy footsteps drew the trios attention.

"We're here," Ultron said.

-o-X-o-

"No way," Jade said to the metal man in front of her.

"You don't have the option," He retorted. Jade rolled her eyes and shifted her weight on her left heel. The group was standing outside of the U-Gin Genetics Research Lab in Seoul, Korea. Ultron wanted Jade to help them get into the lab undetected, and Jade was less than excited about the idea.

"I'm not helping all of you phase in. That will cost a lot of energy and only if I'm lucky will I not faint half way through," Jade said recalling how drained she was after helping Black Widow in the forest only days earlier.

"Wanda will help keep you conscious." Wanda stepped forward and twisted her fingers, igniting the red liquid like power.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good," Jade said putting her hands up. Ultron nodded his head at a legionaries and it raised Loki's staff toward her. "Whoa, whoa," Jade sputtered, but it was to late. Her eyes sight clouded for a moment then it was all blue.

Jade got them in without a problem. She could tell what she was doing and that she didn't like it, but she couldn't tell you why. When she was done she stood in a corner with Wanda and Pietro.

"Is she alright?" Pietro asked looking at Jade. Jade willed herself to answer, but nothing happened. She could only do what the user of the staff let her.

"She'll be fine. She's just been improved a little," Ultron answered barely glancing at them.

"I didn't know she needed to," Pietro mumbled. Wanda elbowed him, and he faked being hurt by it.

Dr. Cho walked in. Jade wanted to scream at her to run, but again, nothing happened. She watched helplessly as Dr. Cho was taken over and the lab was taken over. Jade fought with herself to do something. When she thought she finally had the upper hand she would be pushed back down. Jade felt herself start to shake and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don't move," Jade head Wanda say to her. The shaking stopped and Jade opened her eyes to look up at Wanda. Wanda subtly waved her hand and Jade could see in full color again. Jade opened her mouth to thank when Wanda shook her head.

Wanda moved back to her brother only to be distracted by a rectangular box.

"I can read him," Wanda noticed. "He's dreaming."

"I wouldn't call it dreams," Dr. Cho said. "It's Ultron's base consciousness. Informational noise," She explained. Jade remained silent and watched the scene.

"Soon-," Dr. Cho started only to be interrupted by Ultron.

"How soon?" He said. "I'm not being pushy." Jade had to hold back a snort. It was if Ultron was trying to explain his bad manners while holding everyone hostage.

"We're imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts," Dr. Cho answered. Wanda walked over and put her hands on the box. Wanda screamed. Which caused Jade to jump and Ultron to stand. She wanted to go to Wanda, but decided against the action. Pietro had it covered, and she didn't want to be found out just yet.

Wanda drew in shaky breaths. "How could you?" She asked looking at Ultron.

"How could I what?" Ultron asked playing dumb.

"You said we would destroy the Avengers. Make a better world," Wanda said. She stepped closer to Ultron, and, without thinking, Jade did the same.

"It will be better."

"When everyone is dead?" Wanda demanded. Jade widened her eyes and snapped her head over to look at Ultron.

"That is Not! The human race would have every opportunity to improve," Ultron said.

"And if they don't?" Pietro asked. He stepped in front of his sister.

"Ask Noah," Ultron answer.

'Wrong answer,' Jade thought to herself.

"You're a madman," Wanda said. Jade whole heartedly agreed. She had basically thought that since the party, but that didn't matter now.

"There were more than a dozen extinction-level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs," Ultron tried to reason. "When the Earth starts to settle God throws a stone at it, and believe me He's winding up. We have to evolve there's no room for the weak."

Wanda moved her hand and Jade saw the blue tint go out of Dr. Cho's eyes.

"And who decides who's weak?" Pietro said while Wanda was doing her thing.

"Life," Ultron said with a chuckle. "Life always decides." Pietro looked back at his sister and Jade saw that they finally understood what they had gotten themselves into. Ultron looked up at the ceiling.

"There's incoming," Ultron said. Pietro walked back to his sister and whispered something in her ear. "The Quinjet. We have to move."

"That's not a problem," Dr. Cho said. She typed something into the machine and a small beep came from it. Ultron realized what had happened and shot a laser beam out of his hand. It hit the doctor square in the chest knocking her to the ground. Jade rushed to her side, not caring anymore about keeping up appearances.

"No! Wait, guys!" Ultron exclaimed. Jade looked up to see what he was talking about.

"They left," Jade said. Her stomach twisted and she wanted to throw up. Then her world became a speeding blur.


	13. Chapter 13

Moments later Pietro set Jade back on her feet. She managed to stay upright, though she still wanted to throw up. Jade put her hand against the nearest wall and leaned her weight onto it.

"You good?" Pietro asked holding his hand out to catch her if she fell. Jade raised a finger to him.

"Give me a sec," She breathed. "I'm still getting used to traveling that way." Wanda gave her a small smile.

"It takes a while," She said. Jade straightened and looked at the pair.

"There for a second I thought you guys were going to leave me," Jade said. Pietro looked at the ground then back to his sister.

"We figured we got you into this mess we should probably help get you out," Wanda answered. Jade nodded her head.

"Thanks, I appreciate you not leaving me."

"Don't mention it," Pietro said. Jade looked around. They were in a corner of a small market place. Nobody seemed to take notice of the oddly dressed trio. Jade looked a mess, and she knew it.

Wanda's hair had that wind blown look about it. She tried to fix it by running her fingers through it, but it did next to nothing to help the tangled mess. Pietro looked over his shoulder and, using his speed, took an orange out of the nearby basket. He started to peel it and Jade raise her eyebrows at him.

"Oh, sorry," Pietro said. Before she could blink Pietro was holding out another orange to her. "Here you go."

"That's not what I meant," Jade said taking the orange. "I was going to ask if you paid for it." Pietro handed another fruit to Wanda and she began to peel it.

"If I had money do you think I would be hanging out with you?" Pietro teased. "I didn't think it would matter. I've never met someone from Hydra who would care." Jade gave him a weak glare than began to peel the orange.

"I'm not Hydra," She muttered under her breath before shoving a piece of the fruit in her slowly ate the orange and Pietro gave her a smug grin.

"What's that?" Wanda asked moving toward a small tv across the alley. Jade and Pietro looked at each other then followed. On the screen was a live news feed. It showed two men on top of a moving semi truck. It appeared to be Ultron and Captain America.

"Go Captain," Jade smiled to herself after watching Cap getting a solid hit. Pietro turned to look at his sister. A silent conversation passed between the two. "So?" Jade asked motioning with her hands.

"So what?" Pietro asked.

"Are we going to help?" Jade demanded. Pietro looked back at Wanda. He gave an exasperated sigh then nodded. Jade gave a huge smile. "Alright, but no more of that carrying me like a bride stuff. I'll ride on your back."

"No you won't," Pietro argued.

"Why not?" Jade asked putting her hands on her hips. "That way you can carry both of us and I think it would help my motion sickness." Pietro rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, lets just go." He turned around. Jade jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're really light." Pietro said in amazement.

"Nah," Jade reasoned. "I'm just short, and phasing takes a lot of energy." Pietro didn't respond and they were off in a blur.

The next thing Jade registered was being thrown onto a seat. Jade bolted to her feet and looked around. They were on a train, that much she was sure of. Ultron was looking at Pietro and the Captain was on the floor. Jade looked at Wanda, who waved her hands and two railings blocked Ultron's path. Jade ran to Steve's side.

"Jade," Steve confirmed.

"Captain," Jade replied helping Steve to his feet.

"Please, don't do this," Ultron said to Wanda.

"What choice do we have?" She asked him. Ultron snapped back around and shot a laser blast toward Pietro. He ducked, but the laser went straight through the front of the train. The train lurched and Jade fell onto the seat behind her. Ultron flew out the hole and Steve bounded to the front of the train. Jade followed and looked out the front.

"Oh no," She said looking at the end of the track. The train sped through the barrier and Jade fell backward onto the ground.

"Do you have the package?" Steve yelled. At first Jade thought he had lost it, then she realized he was talking to the person in his ear. "Get to Stark. Go!" Steve turned around and helped Jade to her feet then they speed walked down the car to the twins.

"Civilians in our path," Steve said to Pietro. Pietro got the message and disappeared. "Can you stop this thing?" Steve asked Wanda.

"I can try," She said. Steve nodded then went to the front of the train to block falling debris. "Get ready," Wanda said to Jade. Jade reached over and clung to a nearby pole. Wanda brought her hands back and red power enveloped them, she then thrust her hands down. The power leached through the floor and the train jerked. Wanda pulled back like she was playing tug of war with the ground with both hands.

The train screeched to a stop. Jade loosed her grip on the pole and watched as people scrabbled for a exit. Wanda made eye contact with Jade and they both went for a door.

"Pietro!" Wanda called when she saw her brother. Jade followed Wanda and went with her to check on Pietro.

"I'm fine," He breathed holding a hand up. "I just need to take a minute." He sat down and breathed heavy.

"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve said from behind them.

"The cradle," Wanda said, ignoring Steve's statement. "Did you get it?"

"Stark will take care of it," Steve assured them. Jade heard Pietro groan and she looked down at him.

"No he won't," Wanda said quietly. It took Steve a moment to reply. Jade looked between the two.

"You don't now what you're talking about. Stark's not crazy," Steve said. Pietro snorted and Jade glared down at him.

"He will do anything to make things right," Wanda said. They looked at each other for a moment before Steve looked away and talked to the ground.

"Stark, come in," Steve said. He must not of got a reply because he said Tony's name again. "Any one on coms?" Steve asked.

"What have we done?" Jade heard Pietro mutter to himself.

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda said to Steve. "Where do you think he gets it?"

-o-X-o-

"This is a bad plan," Jade said to nobody as the group walked down the hall to Stark's lab.

"Try to be optimistic," Pietro whispered sarcastically to her. "You never know, Stark might see our point and stop to think before he does something irrational." Jade snorted at his response and together they walked through the door and into the lab.

"I'm only going to say this once," Steve loudly stated.

"How about nonce?" Tony quipped back.

"Shut it down," Steve ordered. Jade stood beside Wanda and watched the situation start to play out.

"Nope," Tony said walking down toward them. "Not going to happen."

"You don't know what you're doing."

"Do you?" Bruce said. "She's not in your head?" He pointed at Wanda.

"I know you're angry," Wanda said stepping beside Steve.

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Bruce's statement sent chills down Jade's spine. Pietro was about to move into action, but Jade gripped his wrist and shook her head. To her amazement he didn't move. Jade's eyes darted between the two three people, she found it hard to believe it was only a day ago that they in this very room disusing Tony's last project, Ultron.

"Banner, after everything that has happened." Steve was cut off by Tony.

"What about everything that's coming?" Tony demanded. After his statement everyone started talking. Jade looked up and saw Pietro rolled his eyes. A blur passed before Jade's eyes. Pietro had instantaneously pulled out all the cords and tossed the last one on the floor.

"No, no, no," Pietro said when everyone stopped arguing to look at him. "Keep talking." He barely finished his sentence before plunging through the floor.

"Pietro!" Wanda yelled running to the hole in the floor. Jade ran with her. Before Jade knew what happened Steve threw his shield and then was blasted onto the floor and Wanda had an arm around her neck.

"Banner," Jade said her eyes widening at the man that had her friend in a head lock.

"Stay out of this Jade," He said. Wanda tried to struggle out of his grasp, but Banner tightened his hold. "Go ahead make me angry," He said in her ear.

"Let her go," Jade said holding a hand out. Jade didn't want to pick a fight with the Hulk, but she wasn't going to let him hurt Wanda. That was out of the question. When Banner didn't release his hold on Wanda the two girls made eye contact. Jade got the hint and moved into action.

Bolting forward she went through Wanda and grabbed Banner around the stomach. Air escaped his lungs and he was pushed backwards. Jade phased through him as soon as he let Wanda go and Wanda turned around and hit him with some of her red energy. He fell backward and hit the ground.

"You good?" Jade asked Wanda keeping her focus on Bruce. The man scrabbled to his feet and took a defensive stance.

"Ya," Wanda answered. "Thanks." Bruce opened his mouth to accuse Jade, but Thor flew in before he could utter a word.

Thor landed on the cradle and lifted his hammer. Blinding lightening illuminated the room and hit his hammer.

"No!" Jade yelled. She saw what he was going to do half a second to late. Thor brought this hammer down; striking the cradle.

Silence. For a moment there was complete silence. Then something erupted from the box.


	14. Chapter 14

Thor was thrown backward onto the floor then shot to his feet to get a better look at what had come out. Whatever it was. It was a deep pink color, other than that it looked normal. Jade stared open mouthed at it. Then the show started.

The thing launched toward Thor. Thor threw it over his head, out a glass window, and out of sight. Steve and looked at each other then ran to the living room. Jade and Wanda shared a glance then ran out the door. They decided to take the stairs rather than throw themselves over the side of the balcony like the two Avengers.

When at the bottom they saw the thing slowly float down to them and join the group that had gathered. Moments later Pietro had sped in.

The things' skin had adopted something very similar to clothes. He was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry, that was odd," He said. Jade immediately recognized the voice, it was Jarvis's. The thing looked at Thor then, with a shrugging motion, a gold cape appeared.

"Thor," Steve accused. "You helped create this?"

"I've had a vision," Thor said, like it explained everything. Jade looked at Clint, and he shook his head at her. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its' center is that." Thor pointed to the glowing yellow/orange thing on Visions head.

"What the gem?" Bruce asked stepping closer.

"The mind stone," Thor explained. "One of the six infinity stones. It's the greatest power in the universe unparalleled in it's destructive capabilities."

"Then why-" Steve started.

"Because Stark was right," Thor interrupted.

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Bruce said to himself. Jade snickered and Wanda nudged her to stop.

"The Avengers can not defeat Ultron," Thor said ignoring Bruce.

"Not alone," Vision interjected. He stepped closer, he seemed to have no fear of the ones around him.

"Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked looking the pink man up and down. Jade wasn't sure who Steve was asking, but Tony was the one to answer.

"We reconfigured Jarvis's create something new."

"Because your last project worked out so well," Jade said. Tony shot her a glare, but didn't say anything to her.

"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve said right after Jade.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" Vision asked. Jade wanted to reply with _Well duh,_ but she thought that might be pushing her limits.

"You're not?" Steve's question was more accusatory than an actual curiosity.

"I'm not Ultron, and I'm not Jarvis," Vision paused and looked at Tony. "I am."

Wanda stepped forward and Jade felt Pietro stiffen beside her. "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

Vision turned toward her. "Look again."

Jade heard Clint laugh to himself and he started to approach the girl. "Your approval means jack to me." Jade looked up at Pietro and waited to see what he would do. Thankfully Thor interrupted before another fight broke out.

"The nightmares, the horrors in our heads, they all came from the mind stone. They are nothing compared to what it can unleash, but with it on our side-"

"Is it?" Steve demanded. "Are you? On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple," Vision answered.

"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Clint said to him.

"I am on the side of life, Ultron isn't," Vision said stepping toward Steve. "He will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked.

"You."

"Where?" Tony asked. This time, though, Clint replied.

"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too," Clint said coming to stand behind Vision. Vision was now surrounded.

"If we're wrong about you," Bruce paused. "If you're the monster Ultron created you to be."

"What will you do?" Vision asked. Jade held her breath for the response, but nobody answered. Mostly because there wasn't one, nobody knew what they would do. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain, but that pain will roll over the Earth so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of him on the net, we have to act now, and not one of us can do it without the others."

Jade and Clint made eye contact, then Jade looked down at the floor. Vision walked out of the circle directing Jade's attention back to him.

"Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, I'm not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me, but we need to go." With those words Vision picked up Thor's hammer and held it out to him.

You could've heard a pin drop, nobody knew what to do. Thor carefully took the hammer and Vision walked away. Thor tapped the hammer on his palm.

"Alright." He started to follow Vision, when he walked past Tony he patted him on the shoulder. "Well done." Thor disappeared.

"Three minutes," Steve said to the group. "Get what you need." The team scattered. Jade looked at the twins then at Clint's retreating back.

"The general armory is over there," Jade said pointing down the hall. "I'll catch up with you guys later." The twins nodded and walked in the direction Jade had pointed them in. Jade turned and ran after Clint.

"Hey, wait up!" Jade shouted after Clint. He didn't stop until he reached his portion of the armory. Clint swung the hall cabinet doors open and started collection weapons for the battle.

"I know you're probably mad at me," Jade started.

"Mad?" Clint demanded. "You think I'm mad?" Jade bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"Jade, I was worried about you. Bruce told me what happened with the twins, but after he went green he couldn't remember what happened to you. I didn't know what to think. I was beginning to think you ran again."

"But I didn't," Jade insisted.

"That my be true, but you seem to have made some pretty good friends with the wonder twins," Clint murmured.

"They saved my life, not once, but twice." Jade insisted. "They're not that bad once you get to know them." Clint stopped packing and turned to look at her.

"What happened?" He quietly asked. Jade took a deep breath then gave him the shortest version she could of what had happened. When she was finished Clint nodded and opened his mouth.

"Jade," Steve called from the hallway. Jade turned her head in the direction of the sound.

"You should go," Clint said. "We'll talk more about it later." Jade gave him a half smile then headed out the door.

Steve was in the hallway. He was holding a plastic bag. Jade braced herself for at least a lecture.

"I saw Dr. Cho," Steve began. At the doctor's name Jade looked up at him.

"Is she alright?" Jade asked. Steve held up his hand.

"She should be fine. She gave this to me," Steve said then held out the bag. Jade took it from him and noticed it had several white pills inside. "She said they should help fix your headache problem."

Jade looked back up at him, slightly stunned. "Really?" She asked. Steve nodded.

"I thought you'd want them."

Jade nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm going to go talk with Stark now, make sure you're ready and get yourself to the Quinjet," Steve said. He turned around and started walking away.

"Thank you," Jade called after him. Steve smiled to himself, but didn't turn around.

A few minutes later the whole team was on the Quinjet, including Jade and the twins. Jade had ran back to her room to grab the black jacket. When Wanda had walked on board Jade noticed that the jackets were the same, excluding the color. While Jade's was black, Wanda's was a deep red color.

Tony passed around a box filled with earpieces and each person took one. Pietro was having trouble putting his in so Jade subtly showed him how to do it by putting her own in while he was watching. He smiled at her then slid it into his own ear.

"Ultron knows we're coming," Steve began when everyone was situated. "Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for, but the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting then out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today, but we can do our best to protect them and we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters, that we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him, it's about whether he's right."


	15. Chapter 15

Jade was assigned to help Banner find Natasha, which she found totally unfair. She could help just as much as Wanda and Pietro, but Steve said that she was to young and her talents were better served helping Bruce. She happened to disagree.

Jade grumbled to herself while following Bruce through the twisted corridors of the Sakovian castle. She kicked pieces of rock out of the way and watched them bounce off the narrow walls or disappear into various hallways. It only did it give her something else to think about besides the fact that she was back in a hydra base, and that Steve had given her busy work. She continued this way until Bruce cleared his throat.

"Hey, umm well," He sputtered out. He stopped and waited for Jade to step in time next to him.

"What?" Jade asked looking up at her companion. He scratched the back of his head.

"I was wondering what happened after I blacked out when we were in Wakanda, and why you ran," He said quietly. Jade nodded her head.

"You freaked out, went all Grinch on me," Jade said. "When you were turning green I went over to help, but you hit me and I fell backward. You tried to attack me and Pietro zipped me outa there. I was going to go back to the ship, but Ultron kidnapped me and I didn't get the chance. I didn't run." Bruce was quiet for a few minutes; trying to process the little information she gave him.

"He didn't hurt you did he? Ultron, I mean," Bruce finally asked.

"No," Jade said. "Not physical anyway, my brain my need a break after this whole thing is done, though."

Bruce chuckled then his face got serious. "I'm sorry Jade," He said.

Jade gave his a quizzical look. "For what?" She asked.

"For hitting you, for letting you get kidnapped. For everything that has happened to you after we first met, and for everything before."

Jade bit her bottom lip. "I don't blame you for what happened, any of it. What happened to me past and present, I've learned to keep at bay, at least for now."

"It's not good for you to suppress memories, or to ignore things that have happened to you."

Jade gave a light laugh. "I don't think I'm suppressing as much as not remembering, and believe me I'm going to have one heck of a mental break down once we're done with this end-of-the-world thing."

"Well then, I'll make sure we're well stocked on pizza, chocolate, and Disney movies," Bruce teased.

Jade smiled up at him. "Could it be Gummy snakes instead? I've always wanted to try them."

"Sure kid, so many gummies that you'll get a stomach ache," Bruce teased. "Nat should be right around this corner." Bruce took a sharp left and ran face first into a metal man. Bruce opened his mouth to express his pain, but when he realized what exactly he had ran into he thought better of it.

The mini Ultron raised his hand. Jade gasped and jerked Bruce back around the corner. They barely made it, in fact the shot singed Jades' jacket a little on the arm.

"You hurt?" Bruce quickly asked while they ran down the hallway. Jade violently shook her head then sharply ducked into a random hallway.

Jade breathed hard as she pressed her back against the wall. She peeked around the corner and watched as the ultron walked down the hall. It seemed to be taking it's time, like it had already won.

"What are we going to do?" Jade asked turning back to Bruce.

"I don't know, I can't go hulk." He breathed. "I don't want you to get hurt, and I don't know if I'll be able to regain control if I do."

"It's up to me then," Jade said taking a deep breath. "Be right back." Bruce opened his mouth to ask what exactly she was about to do, but Jade didn't give him the chance. She bolted out the hall and grabbed the ultron around the waist. They both went through the floor. Jade let them fall through several floors before letting go and letting them both hit the floor.

Jade scrabbled up off the top of the ultron bot and looked around for a weapon. It looked like they had ended up in some sort of garage complete with several shelves and a bunch of machines and tools that looked foreign even to Jade. She took hold of the nearest tool, which happened to be a crow bar. The ultron stood up and cocked its head at her.

"Jade Winters," It said. "Such talent wasted on such a frivolous being." Jade rolled her eyes and bounced forward. She swung her weapon at its head, but it side stepped her attack.

"You don't even know your full potential. Your a fool if you think Hydra taught you everything about your abilities."

"Oh, I know they didn't," Jade said. "But they taught me enough." She advanced and pretended to swing at it, but that wasn't her real goal. She swung short and actually hit the shelf to her immediate right. Using the curved hook on her tool she jerked the shelf and let it topple on top of the robot. Heavy tools, screws, bolts, and the metal frame of the shelf all came down on top of her unsuspecting rival.

The shelf would've hit Jade as well, but she let it phase through her. She walked out of the mess and walked around to see that the ultron's head was sticking out. The light's in its eyes were flickering, but they weren't out yet.

"You'll never belong it their world," It said in a fading voice. Jade shrugged.

"Maybe not," Jade said. "But who said that was a bad thing?" She raised the crow bar over her head and slammed it down. The lights in its' eyes went off and Jade blew the strands of hair, which had fallen out of her pony tail, out of her face.

"Jade, do you copy?" Jade heard Bruce's worried voice ask through her earpiece.

"Ya, we're good. On my way back up." Jade dashed for the nearest staircase and wound her way up the spiral staircase. She found Bruce in front of a door. He was violently shaking the handle and ramming his shoulder into the door.

"You having problems?" Jade asked. Bruce jumped and turned around.

"Jeez, you scared me." He clutched his chest. "Yes. It's locked and I can't get it open."

"Here," Jade said reaching out toward the door. "Let me try." Jade's hand went through the door. She stuck her tongue out in concentration and felt around the other side of the door.

"So what happened with the ultron?" Bruce asked trying to make conversation.

"Lets just say it won't be bothering us anymore." Jade found the dead bolt and twisted it until she heard a click. She pulled out and opened the door. "Ta da," She said smiling like a dork.

"Show off," Bruce said walking past her.

Jade waited for the sharp pain in her head to appear, but it never came. She was delightfully surprised. Dr. Cho did something that Hydra had never managed to accomplish: she fixed Jade's biggest problem, but maybe Hydra didn't want to fix her. That was just as concerning.

Bruce walked past a table full of wonderful guns and similar gadgets. Jade looked down and found a large black gun. She picked it up.

They may need this later.

"Natasha," Bruce called several times before hearing an answer.

"Bruce?" Natasha called back right as he turned the corner. Jade stayed back. She didn't know if Nat was mad at her or not.

Nat put her hand on one of the cell bars and Bruce put his hand on top of hers.

"You all right?" Bruce asked.

Natasha nodded. "Ya." She looked past Bruce and met Jade's eyes. "Hey," She called nonchalantly. Jade waved with her free hand.

"The team's here, the city's about to light up," Bruce explained. Natasha looked around.

"Don't suppose you found a key lying around somewhere?" She asked.

"Ya," Jade said raising the gun. Bruce stepped out of the way and Natasha copied his action. "We did." She pulled the trigger. The lock on the door melted off and Natasha took her opportunity to get out of her prison.

"So what's our play?" Just like Nat, always straight and to the point.

Bruce looked a little confused for a moment. "I'm here to get you to safety."

"Job's not finished." Natasha said confused. Bruce raised his hands slightly and then slapped them back down against his side.

"We can help with the evacuation, but I can't be in a fire fight, not around civilians, and you've done plenty." Bruce walked closer to Nat. "Our fight is over."

"So we just disappear?"

Bruce started to say something when the ground shook. Jade braced herself against the wall and waited for the unexpected movement to stop.

"Alright," Jade said. "Sorry to interrupt this moment that I'm not sure I approve of, but if we don't start to move the place is literally going to come down on our heads."

Bruce and Nat nodded at each other and simultaneously agreed that they should get moving. They half ran down the hallway and weaved in and out of doorways and halls.

"Thor," Jade said into her com. "If your still down here I strongly suggest you get out." Thor told that he was doing just that.

"Are you alright?" Nat asked as the group headed up the flight of stairs. Jade shook her head in the affirmative. "Glad to hear, it you're grounded." Jade opened her mouth to object, but reconsidered.

"That's fair," She said as they entered a large room with a wide hole in the middle of it. The room shook again and parts of the ceiling started to crumble. Bruce stopped walking and looked up at the ceiling. Natasha stopped too. They stopped so suddenly that Jade almost ran into them.

"We got to move," Bruce said looking at Nat. He put his hand on her shoulder, as if trying to comfort her.

"You're not going to turn green?" She asked.

"I've got a compelling reason not to." Jade did her best not to yell at them to start moving.

"I adore you," Natasha said before pulling him into her for a kiss. Jade immediately felt super awkward. She turned slightly away, not wanting to make it more weird than it needed to be. It was all in vain, though, they were only about a second into the kiss before Natasha broke it apart by pushing Bruce into the hole. "But I need the other guy."

Jade raced to the edge and looked down. "Whoa," She said looking back at Natasha. "Was not expecting that."

The Hulk roared and hopped back up onto the platform.

"Lets finish the job," Natasha said with a smirk. The Hulk returned the smile then looked back at Jade. Natasha looked at Jade expectantly.

"Oh ya," Jade said sarcastically. "This is going to end well."


	16. Chapter 16

When flying through the air you'd think that it would be a slightly cool and fun experience. Wrong. When you're flying through the air on someone's back the only form able thought would be something close to 'aaaaaaaahhhhhhh'. That exact word was running through Jade's head as she clung to Natasha back, who was also holding onto the Hulk for dear life.

Jade squeezed her eyes shut until she felt them land. Her arms gave out and she and Natasha were rocketed to the ground. Jade spit out the dirt in her mouth and turned onto her back. Natasha got up and said something to the Hulk, then he let out a yell and bounded away. Natasha watched him run then she turned back around and looked down at Jade.

"You doing good down there?" She asked smiling down at her.

"Ask me when I get my stomach back," Jade breathed. Natasha reached out her hand to Jade. Jade groaned then accepted the help up. "What's the plan?"

"Fight robots," Natasha said turning around. She started to walk toward town and glanced back at Jade. "You coming?"

Jade nodded jogging over to Natasha's position. "Since when did my life become a bad science fiction movie?" Jade asked under her breath. Instead of answering Natasha proposed a challenge.

"First one to the city gets shot gun on the way back." Jade gave her a sly grin.

"Oh, you're on."

"Go!" Natasha yelled without warning. She bolted forward.

"Hey," Jade yelled back racing after her. They weaved in and out of trees and falling pine cones. Natasha got there first, but stopped so suddenly that Jade nearly fell trying to avoid running into her back. "What's wrong?" Jade asked stepping out to stand next to Natasha.

When Jade saw the sight before her she got her answer. Windows poured smoke produced from fires within, shots rang out from both sides of the law, screams filled the air blending in with sirens and car alarms, and in the middle was a small child holding a bunny that was so covered in dirt and soot that you couldn't tell what color it was. The young girl screamed for her parents as the war around her grew more violent.

Jade watched as a young man scooped up the girl and carried her to the nearby alley. Flying robots drew Jade out of her shock.

"Person with the most robot kills chooses what's for supper," Jade joked. Natasha smiled to her self.

"You're on." Jade let out a ear piercing scream and ran forward like she knew what she was doing. The truth being she had no clue. Jade ran for the nearest robot and went through it, but on her way out she took a few wires with it. She did this until she had two hand full of wire and had left a bunch of exploding robots in her wake. Jade dropped her wires and started looking around.

Jade searched around for Natasha and found her about fifteen feet away stabbing one of her glow stick things into the head of a mini Ultron. Jade waited until she was done before calling out to her.

"Twelve!" Jade shouted at her with a smile. Natasha squinted at her.

"I'm calling cheater," She yelled back. Jade shrugged and started running again. Jade started to run down an alley and headed to the middle of town. On her way she would destroy as many enemies as she could.

An explosion in front of her caused her to make a sharp right turn and run right into someone. They both tumbled to the floor. Jade shot to her feet, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her first though was danger, but the man on the ground didn't look any more dangerous than an angry hamster.

"Are you alright?" Jade asked reaching down and helping him to his feet. He had chocolate skin, deep eyes, and a bright smile.

"Ya, I'm alright. I guess I need to pay better attention to my surroundings during my next robot attack." He spoke with a perfect American accent.

"I'm really sorry. It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going," Jade said. "I'm Jade by the way." She reached out her hand. He took it and gave her a firm handshake.

"Charlie Spencer. Nice to meet you." An explosion sounded from behind him, he tensed and shot a look over his shoulder. "I think it's time to go."

"Couldn't agree more," Jade said grabbing hold of his wrist. "Follow my lead." She took off dragging the man behind her.

"I'm the adult shouldn't I be the one leading?" He yelled at her. Jade was a bout to answer when an Ultron saw them and started flying directly at them. Jade turned back around and shoved him down and spun back around. In a split second Jade side stepped and held out her hand. The Ultron flew through it, but it left a few vital parts of itself behind. It crashed to the ground and exploded at the other end of the alley.

Charlie stood up and stared at the wreckage. "I retract my previous question," He said before turning back to Jade. "You can go first." Jade smiled and raced down to escape the narrow space. They ran out to a main road, which also happened to be the edge of the flying city.

"How did you do that?" Charlie breathed behind her with his hands on his knees. He was trying hard to catch his breath. He had ran as fast as he could to keep up with Jade, but he wasn't near in enough shape to make this easy.

"It's all in the timing," Jade said. She looked around for a semi safe place to send her new friend in this chaos. "There," She pointed over to a small diner. "Hide there, you'll be safer." Charlie nodded.

"I don't normally take orders from teenagers, but you get to be the exception." Charlie bounded across the street and Jade watched until he was safety inside.

Tires screeching got her attention. A run pickup came to a stop in front of her and the passenger side opened and revealed a smiling Nat.

"Hop in we're meeting at Steve's position." Jade obeyed and slammed the door behind her.

They got to Steve's location with only a few bumps in the road, the bumps being Natasha insisted on running over every single robot that even looked like it could still move. Jade and Natasha got out of the vehicle and Natasha walked over to her.

"By the way the ones I ran over count," She said to Jade.

"Only if they're moving," Jade compromised. Natasha shrugged.

"Works for me." Over the comms Jade heard that they were trying to get everyone to the town hall. Jade followed Natasha.

"Rogers," Natasha said when she saw him.

"Romanoff," Steve said back. Natasha was about to say something when Wanda came into view.

"Is that my jacket?" She asked. Wanda turned form her and straightened the red leather.

"She's with us," Steve answered.

"Still doesn't explain the jacket." Steve ignored her.

"Fighting these robots isn't getting us anywhere." Clint came up and stood beside Natasha.

"The air's getting thin we go up much higher and people will start dropping," Clint said joining the conversation. Wanda took a deep breath and turned to Steve.

"They're people in the city still hiding," Wanda breathed. Jade nodded and also looked to Steve.

"Get them out," Steve answered. Wanda nodded and walked past Clint. "Barton," Steve began.

"I got her six," Clint said sounding exasperated. He turned and followed her out. Natasha and Jade walked toward Steve.

"And us?" Natasha asked. Steve gave a slight grin.

"We fight robots." Natasha threw open her glow sticks before a blast of wind blew the leaves away.

"Robots?" Pietro asked holding an Ultron arm. "We fight robots today? Or will next month be better for you?" He tossed the arm to Steve then zoomed off again. Natasha rolled her eyes and they all followed him out to the main battle field.


	17. Chapter 17

Jade growled as she threw a broken robot off the side of the flying rock. Around her Steve was standing at the edge of a broken bridge and Natasha was running around smashing anything metal that moved. In the sky Iron Man busted the ones that flew, throwing them to the ground and into buildings that had already been evacuated.

"Forty-seven!" Jade heard Natasha yell after a explosion set off the car alarm next to Jade. Jade spun around and launched herself off of the hood of a car and tackled a robot into the ground, literally. The robot's eyes flickered and shut off due to the fact that Jade had phased half of it's body into the ground.

"Fifty-eight," Jade yelled back at Natasha. Steve stopped his robot fighting for a moment to look between the two girls.

"What are you guys doing?" Steve asked before kicking the nearest Ultron into a car and smashing it into pieces with his shield.

"Seeing who can destroy more robots," Natasha said while bashing an Ultron's head in with her weapon. "Fifty- one, by the way."

Jade shook her head and started to run in a zig-zaggy motion to phase through as many as she possibly could. Ina matter of seconds she had destroyed another ten. Jade looked over her shoulder and grinned at the destruction se left in her wake. She glanced to her left and out of the corner of her eye she saw an Ultron turn off the street and down an alley.

"Oh, no you don't," Jade said to herself. She followed after it, jumping over debris and under fallen street lights. She soon caught up to it and destroyed it without it ever knowing it was being followed.

Jade heard a noise above her head and saw Iron Man fly by. He blasted an Ultron out if the sky and then threw one into the building a few blocks from Jade. The building shook and Jade noticed it was on the verge of falling over. She didn't think much of it, and she turned back around to head back to Steve and Nat, but a high pitched scream stopped her in her tracks.

Jade turned and looked closer at the building. On the concrete steps leading up to the building was a girl in a neon green shirt, no older than two. The building let out a sickening screech and Jade saw it start to waver. The girl screamed again, tears rolling down her face as she clung to a rag doll.

Jade sucked in a breath and headed toward the girl. She had to get to her, she had to. The building groaned again and the girl clung tighter to the doll. Jade poured on the speed, pushing herself to go faster. The building's walls started to crack, she wasn't going to make it.

Then out of nowhere someone came barreling toward the girl. As soon as Jade saw the person she knew who it was, it was Charlie. He scooped up the girl and headed directly away from the building. The building let out a final groan, a loud snap sounded, and it started to fall.

"Run!" Jade screamed, they were so close, but it did no use. Jade ran faster, but she knew she would be to late. She ran anyway. The last thing Jade remembers seeing is his eyes. Fear and realization emanating in them, he held the girl closer.

The building hit the ground.

The impact of the building sent Jade backward in cloud of dust. She landed on her back and she felt herself starting to loose her grip on reality. 'Get up' her mind yelled at her. 'You have to get up.' Jade obeyed, but she knew what she would see.

She sat up and looked around. Charlie and the girl were nowhere in sight, in there place was dust and ruble. Jade pushed her hands on the sides of her forehead.

"No," She whispered to the air.

"Team," Steve said through her ear piece. "Get everyone you possibly can to the town hall and aboard the Helicarrier. Does everyone copy?" One by one the team responded. Jade struggled to organize her thoughts. It's not that she hadn't seen people die before, some had even been her fault, but this was different somehow. She found herself fighting tears at the edge of her eyes.

'No,' Her mind scolded her. 'You don't have time for this. Get up, move!' Jade numbly followed her own directions.

"Jade," Natasha's voice came through the earpiece.

"I copy," Jade answered still looking at the fallen building.

"OK, see you in a bit." Jade turned, started to jog down the nearest alley, and didn't look back. She arrived to the hall minutes later. She found Nat without a problem. She was right where Jade thought she would be, fighting robots.

"Come to join the party?" Natasha asked after destroying her ultron. "What's wrong?" Natasha asked when she saw Jade's face.

"Ask me after I make it off this rock alive."

"We're out of time," Thor said. Natasha and Jade's eyes met. "They're coming for the core."

"Alright," Tony replied. "Avengers, it's time to work for a living."

Natasha ran to the nearest running vehicle, which happened to be a type of plow. With Jade right on her heals they hopped inside and Natasha pulled away like a madman.

They were almost there when Jade heard Tony complaining about their lack of arrival.

"Relax shell head," Nat said. "Not all of us can fly." They plowed into a fence and jumped out of the vehicle. Inside of the church the rest of the team had gathered.

"You alright?" Wanda asked Jade when she had walked in.

"Ya, I'm good. You?" Wanda nodded.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asked.

Tony pointed to the spinning cylinder in the center of the building. "This is the drill. If Ultron gets his hand on this we loose."

Jade looked outside to see Ultron rising from above the city.

"Is that the best you can do?" Thor yelled. At his words Jade shook her head. That was like asking 'could this get any worse?' and then it raining. A question like that you just refrain from asking.

Ultron raises his hand and a flood of metal men gathered around them. If Jade had to make a guess she would say there were about a thousand.

Pietro and Wanda shifted nervously beside her, and Steve took a deep breath.

"You had to ask," He said to Thor.

"This is the best I can do," Ultron said gesturing to his small army. "This is exactly what I wanted, all of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well, like the old man said." Tony looked over at Cap then back at Ultron. "Together."

The Hulk roared and then the flood gates opened. All of the robots raced for the core, and they were ready for them. Working together they helped keep everything away from it's goal and not let everyone get overwhelmed. Jade and Pietro ran around the core and destroyed as many as they could. Jade with her phasing and Pietro with his speed they made quite the defense.

Ultron flew inside and attacked the Vision, but him, Thor, and Tony ganged up and put all their power into blasting him. Ultron started to make a sound similar to laughing and the three stopped their attack. Ultron stumbled to his feet.

"You know with the benefit of hindsight-" He didn't get to finish due to the fact that the Hulk punched him into the air and out of sight.

The remaining ultron's started to thin out and Hulk ran after a group that had decided to retreat. Jade leaned against the nearest wall and closed her eyes. Her breath came heavy and she concentrated on pretending she was in her room after she had run herself ragged. Thar helped calm her and make her breathing more steady. Moments later Clint tapped her on the shoulder and Jade opened her eyes to look at him.

"You good?" He whispered. Jade nodded and pushed herself off the wall.

"We got to move out," Steve said. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, and be right behind you."

"What about the core?" Clint asked looking at the device.

Wanda stepped forward. "I'll protect it," She looked over at Clint. "It's my job."

"Nat, Jade," Clint nodded to them to follow. They walked out the building.

"You alright?" Nat asked. Jade hummed in conformation. Clint jumped into a blue convertible and started to engine. Nat claimed shotgun and Jade ended up in the back seat. When Jade was in her seat Clint put petal to the metal and they sped off.

On their way Clint started to make conversation. "I know what I need to do."

"Oh, ya," Jade said leaning forward.

"The dining room," He said looking at Nat. "If I knock out that east wall it would make a nice work space for Laura. What do you think?"

"Kids always eat in the kitchen anyway," Nat replied.

"No one eats in the dining room." By this point Jade was completely lost, but it was nice to hear them having a normal conversation.

Clint looked back at Nat. "We don't have a lot of time."

"So get your butt on a boat." Nat opened the door and Clint and Jade followed. Nat ran in the opposite direction of the ships

"Where is she going?" Jade asked.

"To get Bruce." Clint answered. "Come on." He jogged over to a ship and they boarded together. Moments later Clint and Jade noticed a woman yelling for her boy. Clint and Jade looked around until Clint had spotted him. He had gotten stuck under some debris. Jade moved to go get him, but Clint held her back.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." Clint jumped off the ship and ran toward the boy. When he got there he picked up the boy.

Jade breathed a sigh of relief when shots rang off around them. Jade looked up and saw the Quinjet coming for Clint. Jade watched helplessly, she could run for him, but she would never make it. She looked around for anything that would help. She met eyes with Pietro, and she knew what he was about to do. She opened her mouth to tell him to not, to stay safe, but it was already to late he was gone.

The Quinjet flew over Clint and the bot and they disappeared in a cloud of dust. When it cleared Clint stood up with the boy still in his arms. Jade couldn't hear what was said, but she did see Pietro collapse with several bloodied spots on his suit. Clint put the boy down to look at Pietro. Steve ran over and looked at the scene. Clint and Steve looked at each other and a silent message passed between them. Steve picked up Pietro and Clint grabbed the boy.

They boarded the ship. Steve set Pietro on the floor, he looked down at Pietro. Steve sighed then turned and headed toward the front of the ship. Jade followed Clint and watched him hand the boy off to his mother and then they walked over to the row of chairs that were next to Pietro. Jade sat a row across from him.

A medic came over to check on the two, but they waved him off.

"It's been a long day," Clint said before falling backward and laying across his row of seats.

Jade looked at Pietro. She searched inside herself for any emotion, and she found more than she could possibly handle. She laid back across her chairs like Clint and cried until her head hurt and the only emotion she had left was a numb feeling.

She let the last of the tears fall down her face and closed her eyes. The last she remembered before she fell asleep was the loud explosion of Sokovia and the screams of the people around her.


	18. Chapter 18

Jade zipped up her leather jacket up. She had training in ten minutes, and she was running a bit behind.

It had been a week since Sokovia had fallen, and over the last week a lot had happened.

They buried Pietro the day after his death. Everyone had come, Barton had even said a few words. He had left shortly after the ceremony, something about having someone to go home to. Wanda had grieved in private for the next two days. After that, though, Jade had done her best to keep her out of her room, and around other people. Jade kept Wanda distracted with games and helping her with her memory problem.

Now, with Tony's and Wanda's help, she could remember most of the important stuff. She was sixteen, she had no siblings, and she had been with Hydra for all her life, but no matter what she had done she couldn't remember her real name, nor who her parents had been. She had no clue where she had come from, nor how she had come to be with Hydra, at least until Tony had helped her fill in some of the blanks two days ago.

-o-X-o-

Wanda and Jade had been exploring the Avengers new HQ while trying to devise a plan to convince Tony to let them be next door neighbors when Jades' wristwatch had buzzed.

"What's that?" Wanda had asked. Jade looked down at the nifty little gadget.

"It's Mr. Stark," Jade explained. "He wants me to meet him in his office."

Wanda nodded. "You should go. I'll see you at dinner."

"Are you sure? I can tell Mr. Stark now isn't a good time," Jade said.

"No, I wanted some time to myself anyway," Wanda answered as they turned into the hall that led to the training room.

"Alright, see you tonight," Jade said waving goodbye. Jade turned from her friend as she ran the opposite direction of where Wanda was headed.

When Jade got to the door to Tony's office she tape on the door with a rhythmic beat.

"Come in," Tony called through the door. Jade happily waltzed into the room.

"You beckoned," Jade said walking over to Tony who was sitting at a computer.

"Was it you I heard running through the halls?" Tony asked not looking over his shoulder. "Because the floors are freshly waxed and I don't want some unfortunate soul to slip and scuff them up."

Jade gave a small laugh. "Yes, cause not scuffing up your floor is the only reason for not running." Tony pointed to a chair next him.

"Sit my apprentice." Jade did a side jump into the chair and let out a surprised scream when the chair rolled out from under her. She ended up on her butt with Tony looking down at her with his eyebrows raised. "I really hope I got that on camera."

Jade shyly got up and rolled the chair back over to where it was. This time she carefully lowered herself into it. "I'm good thanks for asking. What do you need to tell me?" Tony turned back to the screen and clicked onto a file.

"Remember when Dr. Cho gave you your check up, and took a sample of your blood?" Jade nodded. "Well, I ran it through the database to see if I could find a similar DNA match from any relative you might have."

"Did you find a match?" Jade excitedly asked. Tony nodded.

"I did, but the match was from a DNA sample that was taken back in 1942," Tony said. Jade tilted her head trying to figure it out. "It didn't make sense at the so I did a little digging. While I was doing it I found something that I thought you'd want to see." The file opened and the screen went black and in the middle of the screen was a play button.

"What is it?" Jade asked.

"Just watch." Tony pushed play and the screen changed.

On the screen was the doctor that had told Jade to meet him in the landing bay, but he seemed much younger. He was sitting at a desk with his hands folded. He opened the file in front of him and started talking about the current developments they had successfully accomplished.

"What does this have to do with me?" Jade asked after about ten minutes.

"Wait," Tony said pointing back to the screen. Just after he did the doctor said something that peaked Jades' interest.

"After two months of life, test clone number eleven died last night during experiment number 9. Leaving only number 12 left alive. She is healthy and responding well to the experiment treatments. Doctors recommend reducing experimentation until a later time." Tony click and switch to a bookmarked area in a different video.

One that was from a later time. He had more grey streaks in his hair and he was at a different desk. "Test clone number 12 has been the only survivor from project Zeta. After seven years of attempts we have decide to shut down the project and focus its' resources on clone 12. She is only four years of age, but the Winter Soldier DNA/Super Soldier Serum has given her advanced intelligence. Her first mission was a success"

The video cut off and Tony skipped to one that seemed to be fairly recent. "Project Zeta, renamed Project Winters, has been complaining about a headache. The doctors suggested some specially engineered pain killers, but have informed me that it would come at the cost of the full power of her abilities. Suggestion was put off. Project Winters has successfully completed every mission that she has been given and the memory wipes have all been a complete success. She has shown complete compliance and no resistance to any experiment of pain that we have used on her. Will update on a different occasion."

Tony hit stop and sat back in his chair. Jade looked down at her hands and started to wring them.

"There's a lot more of files just like this, but I thought this would be enough for you to get the idea of what it's saying," Tony said.

"Are you positive that they're talking about me?" Jade asked not looking up

"It would explain a lot. The DNA I found matched a sample taken from a James Barnes during WW2, who is now the Winter Soldier, and it would explain why you have t no memory of your parents. On top of that I found the file for Clone Twelve and the discerption in the file matches what you look like, down to the scar on the back of your neck."

"Does anyone else know?" Jade asked glancing up at him. Tony sighed and shook his head.

"Just you and me, for right now," He said. Jade nodded and got lost in thought. Tony and Jade sat in silence for fifteen minutes until Jade came back to reality.

"Can we keep it that way?" Jade asked.

"For how long?" Tony asked, surprised by her request.

"Until I can straighten my memories out, or at least until I know a little more," Jade said.

"I'll send you all the files I've found, so you can look through them if you want." Tony typed away and did as he said. "You can take as much time as you need, but the longer you wait the harder it will be to tell people."

"I know, I just need time." Jade got up. Tony remained seated.

"Alright," Tony said turning back to the screen. "See you at dinner." Jade took that as the opportune moment to leave.

-o-X-o-

Now Jade was running down the hall to make sure she was at training on time. She had decided to keep her little secret a secret a little longer, for now she would live like nothing had happened. She had also come to accept what has happened to her and all to the innocent people she had hurt, but accepting it doesn't mean she will ever forget it. She realizes what she remembers now she could never forget, and she never wants to.

Jade bursts through the door at the last minute. Mr. Steve doesn't take lightly to those who are late. What makes it worse is that Aunt Nat gets to duel out the punishments.

Another thing that has happened over the week was Jade finally figured out what to call everyone. Mr. Steve, Aunt Nat, Uncle Clint, Mr. Stark, and Thor insisted she call him Thor, just Thor. Vision and Wanda remained the same.

To Jade they were her weird little family. It may not be as normal as other peoples', but she wouldn't ever wish it to be any different. She was home and this was her family.

Jade went to stand by Wanda after she had landed. Over on the balcony that overlooked the training area stood Steve and Natasha. Jade smiled up at Wanda and Wanda returned the smile.

Steve took a deep breath and his voice rang across the room. "Avengers…."

 **Hi people! This is the last chapter of Winters Wonder. I'm still debating whether or not to write a sequel to it. Thank you all for reading and supporting this story through to the end, and thank you to everyone who wrote reviews. Good-bye.**


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